As If!
by xMako-Eyesx
Summary: Ruf/Tif Yuf/Vin Aer/Zack AU. The gang's in high school! Vincent and Yuffie are dating, Aerith is struggling with love and Tifa is trying not to mess up her last year. How will everything work out when Rufus and his friends are involved? Plz R
1. Chapter 1

Haaallo! Okay well this is a new fic, no duh P, I don't know where I'm going with this one but I hope you like it! I'll try and update every month but being in grade 11 wont really speed up that process. )

* * *

Tifa walked slowly down the empty halls of her high school. She trudged along checking all the numbers on the doors. It was the first day of high school of her senior year. She would be graduating this year and found it almost too exciting to bear. Her goal this year was to make a good final impression on everyone, so far she'd failed in her mission. She was already late for her first class. Luckily it was art so she wasn't too concerned since the teacher favoured her. The art teacher was the only one. The rest found Tifa too mouthy. She had opinions to share but the teachers of other classes never valued those opinions.  
Her wine coloured eyes scanned the numbers. 'A111, A112, A113' She read the numbers to herself as she ran down the hall. She class was in A120 and she was getting closer. Tifa's thoughts were rudely interrupted when she smacked straight into another form. She stumbled back wards and fell over. The smackie was unfazed by her actions and stood solidly as if nothing had happened.

Tifa's unsure gaze travelled up to meet the icy eyes of Rufus Shinra. Tifa blushed as he stared down at her. He looked annoyed but unfazed. Rufus kneeled down by her and grabbed her hand. He stood her up and she dusted herself off.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you" She tried her best not to look intimidated. He was rich and famous, plus he was of a different social group. While Tifa and her friends went out partying and chatted loudly in the cafeteria Rufus and his friends would stay away from the public and never talk to anyone they didn't deem worthy of their attention. Tifa was more then a little shocked that Rufus had helped her up but she figured it was because no one was around.

"Next time you want to be close to me, just ask" Rufus smirked and Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Well whatever, sorry, bye" She said quickly and rushed down the hall. He smirked at her departing figure. Something about terrorizing the weak made him smile. He found it fun, to most people's disgust. He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked after her. He wasn't in as big of a rush as she was to get to art.

* * *

Tifa crept into the classroom and took her seat. She was proud that she wasn't spotted by the teacher and gave her friend Yuffie a confident smirk.

"Don't be late next time Miss Lockhart" Mr. Jack said. Tifa smacked her head on the desk and Aerith giggled. Tifa gave her friend an 'I give up look' and Aerith smiled in return. Mr. Jack finished with his notes and started introducing the class to its numerous assignments. Tifa rested her head in her palm and her elbow on her desk. She listened as he explained the projects. Tifa's eyes travelled around the room in boredom. She looked over at Yuffie. The tiny girl was busy scribbling hearts and "I love yous" all over a piece of paper. It was no doubt a note meant for Vincent's eyes only. Yuffie and Vincent had been dating for 2 years. They never seemed to tire of each other and were by far the strangest couple Tifa had ever seen. She looked over at Aerith next. Aerith was single and so she wasn't writing any love notes. She was staring at the teacher with mild interest as she pretended to pay attention.

Tifa often wondered about Aerith. She cared too much about others and not about herself. Tifa's second goal this year was to set her up on a date with someone good. She was thinking about Cloud. Cloud and her had dated for a while, after being childhood friends. Tifa would always love him and he would always love her but they couldn't deal with being in a relationship. No matter who they dated they would always be in love with someone else, which was their curse. Tifa thought it could be fun to set Cloud and Aerith up. Tifa looked over at Reno and Elena. They were chatting quietly and staring at various students. Rude was near them and looked way beyond bored. They were Rufus' friends so she wouldn't be surprised if they were talking about her or anyone else in a negative way.  
Rufus calmly strolled into the classroom. Tifa's mouth almost dropped to the floor when the teacher said nothing to him for being late. She guessed having a rich and powerful father was enough to silence anyone.

Rufus sat down behind her and turned to face Elena, Reno and Rude.

"Oh great we're stuck with him" Yuffie rolled her eyes and Tifa smirked.

"This has just become the worst block of the day" Tifa sighed in frustration. She was hoping he wouldn't be in any of her classes. His sheer presence made anyone unable to concentrate. Most feared he would read their mind when they were thinking negatively of him and shoot them or something extreme like that. Tifa doubted that even Rufus Shinra had mind reading powers but she knew he had a short temper and was extremely rude.

Mr. Jack rambled on for some time before he let them start on their first assignment. They had to draw a picture of a mythical creature in pencil and include detail and shading. Tifa decided to draw the ice goddess Shiva. She figured it would be a nice change from the clichés like unicorns and fairies. She moved over to Aerith and Yuffie so they could talk.

"Can you believe we're in Grade 12! It's crazy" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Don't doubt I haven't thought about that for every second leading up to the first say of school" Aerith sighed thinking about it once again. She moved her thick brown hair away from her eyes. Yuffie bounced in her chair as she drew. Aerith stared off into space and Tifa worked hard. She was almost jealous that Aerith able to do so well in school. The girl wasn't working now and wouldn't be for the next 6 classes but when time came to hand in the project it would be done and done to perfection.

Tifa sketched out her drawing roughly before it was time to go. Tifa put it into her binder and packed up all her things. Aerith, Yuffie and Aerith headed down the hall together.

"So when are we going dress shopping?" Aerith asked.

"It's close but it's not that close. We'll worry about that later" Tifa smiled brightly.

"Okay okay, but can we pick out dates now?" Aerith grinned.

"Vincent's taking me" Yuffie smirked; Tifa and Aerith exchanged a glance.

"No duh! Who are you going with Aerith?" Tifa grinned and gave her friend a sly look.

"I dunno, I was hoping Cloud or Zack would take me" A small blush crept across her cheeks as she mentioned their names.

"Don't worry I'll set you up" Tifa nudged her friend.

"That's what I'm worried about" Aerith smirked and Tifa giggled.

"What about you Tiff?" Yuffie asked, leaning her head towards her.

"I dunno" She shrugged. Tifa was gorgeous and everyone in the school knew it. She walked with confidence and hung out with equally beautiful friends plus she had a body to die for. But… boy friends weren't her thing. Tifa found them boring and needy. She could never have a good time with them since very rarely did they share the same interests. Tifa like the business world and her job at 7th heaven. She found it boring to talk about football and WWF.

"When are you ever going to get a boy friend Tiff!" Yuffie whined.

"I don't know, later" She smiled as they entered their socials class. Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie took their seats at the back of the class. Cloud was in the class as well. He gave Tifa a childish smile and sat down in front of her.

"Hey Tiff. Hey Aerith, Yuffie" He nodded in their direction. Aerith blushed and smiled and Yuffie gave a slight wave back.

"Hey Cloud. How was your summer?" Tifa asked.

"Do you even need to ask? I spent half of it with Yuffie, Aerith and you" He grinned and Tifa rolled her eyes.

"I know that silly, but how was in general?" She smirked and he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Good" He said and faced the front of the classroom. The class began and Tifa scanned her classmates once again. To her disappointment Rufus could be found in this class as well. Luckily only Elena and Reno where with him this time. Rude and Tseng were not. The teacher, Mr. Valentino, started off by telling the class about an up coming field trip.

"You'll be going camping as a class" He started. Tifa exchanged an excited glance with Aerith and Yuffie. "You will be staying in cabins but will hike around to different parts of the forest we'll be visiting. The longest hike takes 5 hours and there's a cabin there where you can rest. Then you'll head back.""Why are we going now? It's only the beginning of the year," Elena asked.

"Because the weather is still nice and this way you wont have to worry about final exams at the end of the year" Mr. Valentino smiled and Elena gave a nodded that she understood.

"Too bad we'll be stuck with them," Aerith pointed over at Reno and Rufus who were snickering the corner.

"And Vincent's not here!" Yuffie said, raising her voice slightly as she whined. Just at that moment Vincent strolled through the door.

"Late Valentine. Sit down" Mr. V commanded and Vincent shrugged. He had been delayed at his locker, wasn't his fault. Vincent sat down in front of Yuffie, beside cloud.

"That was lucky" Yuffie sighed, "I'm happy your going on the field trip with us" Yuffie smiled brightly at her boy friend. When she noticed everyone was staring, her smiled was whipped off her face in a flash. Tifa knew Yuffie couldn't live without Vincent for more then a day. She found it cute. Vincent was the same way. He was more clam about it but Tifa knew he wanted to be with her just as much. Tifa sat through the instructions of the field trip. They would be staying in cabins, one for girls and one for boys. Each day they would hike to different spots in the woods. They were expected to take pictures and notes on each area's importance. Mr. V explained that they would be put into different groups. Each group would visit each location on a different day.

"The groups will be… Group 1. Cloud, Vincent, Rinoa, Celes and Locke" Cloud and Vincent exchanged a glance, they were happy to be in the same group together. Aerith and Yuffie frowned at the fact that they wouldn't be in the same group as them.

"Group 2 will be… Selphie, Terra, Cid, Barret, Cait, and Zell" Mr. V read out the second group as Tifa held her breath. She was hoping to be in the same group as Aerith and Yuffie.

"Group 3 is Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie" Mrs. V started. The 3 girls exchanged excited smiles. Tifa was more then happy, any other addition to their group couldn't be bad at all, as long as she was with her friends. "Reno, Elena and Rufus" Tifa was more then proven wrong. Her face fell as she turned to Aerith and Yuffie. A similar expression was written on their faces, one that said 'Help!' "Well aren't you guys lucky." Cloud turned around and smirked, "You get to spend a week with the prince of all jerks, a total suck up and a idiotic goof" Cloud continued on talking about Rufus, Elena and Reno. Tifa put her head on her desk.

"This was going to be fun" She sighed. Cloud shrugged.

"It still could be" He smirked and looked over at Rufus who was flipping his hair and rolling his eyes at the teacher. "Or…. Not" "We're doomed" Yuffie whined. And Aerith sighed.

"Maybe it won't be that bad…" She hoped as she looked over at the three they would be stuck with.

"Maybe is a long shot," Cloud laughed.

"Mr. Strife listen up" Mr. V snapped lightly and Cloud rotated in his chair to face him. Mr. V started talking about the longest hike they would be going on. He said it would take 5 hours. Each group would stop and rest in a cabin found up at the end of the trail. There would be a fridge with drinks and snacks for each group. Marks would be deducted if a group ate another group's snack.

After the long lecture the class was dismissed. Tifa headed to her next couple classes. She once again sat through rules and boring lectures found at the start of every school year. Time couldn't go slow enough as different teachers explained the same thing over and over. "No talking out of turn" or "I'll respect you if you respect me" was common to hear from any teacher's mouth. Tifa was close to falling asleep. She was constantly thinking about what the others were up to and about the upcoming trip. Tifa was excited to go but was unsure they would make any progress with Rufus in their group. Reno and Elena would follow who ever was more popular at the time so they could be tamed. But Rufus was a whole other story. He did things his own way and had little consideration for other people's feelings.

Finally she was able to escape from the last boring lecture before lunch. She grabbed her binder and headed to her locker. She was free! For a little while anyways. She passed Reno, Elena, Rufus, and Rude who all snickered as she walked. Tifa rolled her eyes, like they were worth her time.

"Look at her, she's just another good girl trying to be bad" Reno sneered, sounding like he didn't mean it.

"How do you mean?" Elena asked, she didn't see anything wrong with her.

"Well she wear skirts and boots, sits and the back of the class and talks out of turn but she's a top student and has never been sent to the office" Reno explained his theory.

"She just like Aerith and Yuffie" Rufus commented dryly. "Bunch of bitches" "I… don't think they're that bad" Elena said quietly.

"Neither do I, but Rufus obviously does" Rude said, Elena was a little surprised. It was one of Rude's longer sentences, those always shocked her.

"Sure is gorgeous though" Reno snickered.

"Just like her friends" Elena commented. Reno gave Elena a concerned look but decided not to talk about what he was thinking.

"Meh" Rufus shrugged, "She's got nothing no one else has" "Are you kidding, those three girls have everything others don't. Tifa's just the only one that's untouchable" Reno chuckled, "She seems to hate guys." "I bet she likes me" Rufus smirked.

"You think everyone likes you," Tseng commented as he strolled into the join the group.

"Well everyone does" Rufus smirked.

"I don't" Tseng sneered and leaned up against one of the lockers.

"I could get anyone to fall in love with me" Rufus smirked again and flicked his hair confidently.

"Then get her," Tseng point at Tifa.

"No way, anyone I want I can get. And I don't want her" Rufus made a face.

"When we go on the hiking trip see if you'd be interested. Then try and get her. Even when you want to, you wont be able to" Reno dared.

"Fine, I'll think about it. But right now it's more then a strong no" Rufus rolled his eyes and walked to the cafeteria to get his lunch.

* * *

Tifa sat down with her friends at their usual table. She sat down beside Cloud at the end of the table. Cloud was sitting beside Yuffie, who was sitting beside Vincent. Across from Cloud was Barret, beside him was Cid, and beside him was Aerith. Tifa barely knew Barret and Cid but she figured they were nice. Cloud and Vincent knew them and that's how they came to sit with them. Tifa ate her lunch quietly while everyone else chatted away.

"What's wrong Teef?" Cloud asked. Tifa knew he wanted an answer. He was the only person who called her that, everyone else called her "Tiff" for short. He only used that nickname when he meant business.

"Nothing at all. But you know Cloud I think you should ask Aerith out" Tifa whispered to him.

"Is that what you were thinking about?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah" Tifa replied.

"Oh, well I don't think she likes me" Cloud admitted.

"Well I think she does, and I say you should ask her out. Come on, all she can say is no" Tifa almost pleaded with him.

"I'll think about it. I'm kinda too shy," He admitted and Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but be quick about thinking. Girls like Aerith don't stay single for long" Tifa warned.

"Then how come your still single" Cloud asked with a smirked on his face.

"Because I'm not as pretty as her" Tifa rolled her eyes. She knew that Aerith and her were equal in beauty but she just didn't want a boyfriend right now. It was something Cloud had a hard time understanding and so he would just end up frustrating her with millions of questions.

"What ever Teef" He said, rolling his mako eyes.

"Yes whatever" Tifa closed any remaining arguments with that. She ate her lunch in peace and quite. Today was a strange day for her. Everything was moving so fast and she had a weird feeling in her stomach. It was almost a feeling of loneliness but Tifa wasn't sure how that could be possible considering all her friends surrounded her. She wasn't looking forwards to sitting through another class of lectures though. Maybe that was the feeling, the feeling of not wanting to go to boring lectures. Tifa doubted it but she was sure it was nothing serious.

"Tifa? Are you working after school?" Aerith asked she had her 'I want to talk' expression. It was one Tifa could never turn down.

"I am, sorry but you can hang with me at the bar, it shouldn't be too busy today" Tifa gave her an apologetic smile. Aerith just smiled back.

"Great" She clapped her hands together and Yuffie looked at them. She had a fake hurt expression on her face. She dramatically sniffed and rubbed her eyes.

"You guys don't want me there?" she cried, Tifa and Aerith exchanged a glance.

"We already knew you had plans with Vincent" Aerith rolled her eyes. Yuffie grinned and shrugged.

"I know so I can't go" Yuffie said as if she had won some battle of wits. Tifa giggled. The lunch bell rang and all the students seated in the cafeteria dragged themselves to their classes. Tifa was no exception as she walked with Aerith to Math. Aerith was a math wiz. Tifa found it a lot more difficult then Aerith did.

"I hate math" Tifa whined.

"I know" Aerith smiled, she'd been friends with Tifa long enough to know at least that much.

"Sorry" Tifa smiled meekly hoping she wasn't annoying her friend, "So why did you want to know if I was working after school?" "What? Can't a friend want to hang out?" Aerith asked innocently.

"No" Tifa said raising an eyebrow.

"Well I kinda want to talk to you about Zack" Aerith said. Tifa put a finger to her chin in thought. She was trying to remember who he was. She snapped her fingers when she remembered. He was the black haired boy that bore a striking resemblance to Cloud.

"Oh him. Yeah what about him?" Tifa asked as she took her seat.

"I'll tell you at your bar okay?" Aerith gave a nod meaning her mind was set. Tifa didn't try to say anything further on the matter. Tifa sat with her elbow on her desk and chin resting in her palm. She was listening to the teacher talk about the same thing, just as she had done for the last 30 minutes. She watched the clock tick tick tick but it never seemed to be in a hurry. Every first day of school was like this for her. Tifa let the gaze of her whine coloured eyes travel to the window. She watched as several students walked by. Most were headed to the field for gym but others had the afternoon off. Tifa would have that next semester and they would not. It was something she was looking forward too.

"Tifa your not sleeping are you" Aerith poked her friend in her thin side.

"Nope" Tifa smiled and poked Aerith back. The rest of the class went by quicker after that wake up call. Tifa was soon dismissed and headed out the door. She walked down the hall to her locker. Aerith had branched off to her own locker and would meet Tifa at the bar. Tifa grabbed her backpack and stuffed her books inside the dark interior. She knew it would get heavier with each day but she was enjoying the lightness for now. Tifa walked down the hall. She looked up ahead to see Reno, Rude and Rufus pushing a kid around.

"What a geek" Rufus smirked. The kid looked close to tears, Tifa rolled her eyes 'Jerks' she thought' "Nothing to do after school? Maybe you wanna come to a beat up party" Reno chuckled at his own extremely lame joke, "Alone or taken?" He questioned the kid as to whether or not he had any place to be. Either way he answered would go badly for him.

"Taken" Tifa walked by and grabbed the kid by the collar. She dragged him away from the crowd and out the door, leaving a shocked expression on Rufus' face. She let go of him once they were outside the doors.

"Are you okay?" Tifa asked looking the by over for any injuries.

"Yeah fine" He smiled brightly.

"Watch out for yourself…." Tifa searched for a name.

"Hojo" The boy answered.

"Right, okay take care Hojo!" Tifa gave a nod.

"Thanks" Hojo said.

"Bye!" She waved and went on to work. She started walking down the path she usually took. She felt like someone was following her. Sure enough she was right. A hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around to face her "attacker." Tifa looked up to see a red faced Rufus glaring down at her with icy eyes.

"What?" She asked bumping his hand off her shoulder. She noticed that Elena, Reno, Rude and Tseng were following close behind.

"Why did you do that?" Rufus asked angrily, he knew he was getting mad at her for no reason but no one made him look stupid!

"To save that kid from getting his ass kicked?" Tifa tried and placed her hands on her small hips. She was into her "bar" mode, a mode in which no one dared mess with her.

"You had no right," Rufus snapped.

"No right!" Tifa snapped back "You have to be kidding, I'm not even going to argue with you about this." Tifa turned to leave and mutter as her farewell "Jerks." Rufus' ears caught her statement and it made him madder. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him. Grabbing both her wrists he pulled her very close to him. Tifa was surprised at first. Her feet where barely touching the ground as she held her up. Tifa could feel his body heat and damp breath by her ear. Tifa swallowed slowly she shivered as he tighten the grip on her wrist.

"No one talks to me like that," Rufus sneered down at her. Now Tifa got angry.

"You listen here Rufus, I don't back down to anyone and some spoiled brat is no exception" She snapped harshly, she pushed him far away from her. Rufus stumbled back a bit. "Never bother me again" Tifa spat, eyes narrowed and she looked like she was ready to kill.

"I…" Rufus was about to snap something back but Tifa yelled at him.

"Haul ass! Get out of here" She kicked at him and he narrowed his eyes back her. Reno, Rude, Tseng, and Elena were already backing away from Tifa as if she was going to bite their heads off. With how mad she was right now she wouldn't be surprised if she did. "Get!" Rufus turned and left with his group. He was more then mad. He furiously stomped away; no one made him look stupid more then one time in a day. He would have his revenge somehow, Tifa wasn't going to shoo him away like a dog and get away with it. He would make her camping trip hell and the rest of her year suck.

"Man she's tough" Reno took a quick look at Tifa's departing figure.

"Find out where she works. I'll destroy her anyway I can" Rufus glared back as well.

"I guess this means you won't be taking my bet?" Tseng questioned.

"Hell no!" Rufus became more furious. He pushed his way past his friends, sending Elena flying into Reno's arms in the process.

"Think he's mad?" Elena asked straightening herself out.

"Yeah" Reno sighed and ran his fingers through his flaming locks.

* * *

Tifa stomped into her bar and slammed a glass on the table. She filled it with water and drank it all in one go. Aerith was already there and watching her with wonder as her friend went fuming around the bar.

"Um…. Tiff? What's wrong?" Aerith questioned quietly.

"ShinRa brat! Jerks, every last one of them," Tifa snapped, she took a deep breath and clamed down. She looked at Aerith's puzzled expression and explained everything that happened.

"You haven't had a good run in with him today, have you?" Aerith said once she knew about the hallway incident in the morning and what happened after school.

"Nooooo, I smack into him in the hall, he gets no trouble form any teachers, he hurt my wrist! And he's in one to many of my classes" Tifa sighed in frustration.

"It sounds hard but just ignore him" Aerith smiled, she knew how annoying Rufus and his friends could be. They hounded her in grade 9 because she was 'too nice' or some lame reason like that. They eventually moved on to a new target but Aerith would forever hate them.

"I guess so" Tifa made a face, and then remember the main reason Aerith was here, "So what did you want to talk about?" Tifa slide a drink towards a costumer.

"Okay Zack. Well you see he and I have been talking a lot lately he's really nice. I consider him a good friend but he considers me more so," Aerith told her; Tifa gave her a puzzled look.

"How do you know?" Tifa questioned, she was never good at guessing guys feelings and if she ever tired she was 99 percent of the time wrong.

"He asked me out" Aerith smiled weakly as Tifa's mouth dropped open. She quickly closed it when she realized it wasn't too big a deal.

"So what's the problem? Date him" She smiled and Aerith shrugged.

"I would because I do kinda like him but what about Cloud" Aerith sighed.

"Aerith I would date Zack now. I think Cloud likes you but I don't think he's in girlfriend mode right now" Tifa sighed, "Maybe if he sees you with another guy he can truly make up his mind. But there's no point in you waiting around for him" "True, maybe I will date Zack. And besides it's not like I'm going to marry him so I'll still have other boyfriends. One of them could be Cloud but if not I guess that's fine" Aerith smiled brightly again.

"I need to get out anyways, no point in waiting for him" "Exactly, you go have fun, when he figures things out then he can come back to you" Tifa gave a nod and smiled. She slid another drink towards a costumer once again. It was a mindless motion for her, having worked here so many years; she could do it in her sleep.

"Thanks Tiff, I'll see you tomorrow at school" She told her.

"Okay bye, help me though! I wouldn't be suspired if Rufus is out to get me" Tifa smirked. Aerith giggled and waved goodbye. She disappeared through the door leaving Tifa to do her work. The school day had gone by slowly and now she was at work. Her daily summer routine of sleeping in and watching TV had come to an end and she was back to her school routine. Tifa continued to mix drinks for costumers, she still knew the regulars. She was surprised not to see one of them here. She hoped he was ok. Not that she had strong feelings for any of them but once you were use to seeing someone everyday you grow kind of attached. Tifa scanned the room for him but he was nowhere to be found.

"Heya Teef!" His loud voice boomed from across the room. Tifa looked up and gave him a small smile.

"What'll it be today Reno? The usual?" She questioned as the red head sat down at his usual spot.

"Yes sir" He grinned his usually goofy grin, one that had become his trademark over the years. Although in different socials groups at school Reno had been talking to Tifa for many years. He started drinking a tiny bit when he was 15 and ever since then he became a regular. Although Tifa didn't agree with his early drinking age she knew she couldn't change his mind. Over the years they had become good friends but still fought a lot. Reno would never acknowledge her at school, and Tifa would do the same. Their friendship was a secret. Tifa knew if Rufus found out he would have a fit. He hated everything Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa were attached too.

"There ya go" Tifa handed him a small drink. Reno would only have one then he would leave but he took his time drinking it.

"Sorry about that today Tifa" He said quietly.

"Oh that don't worry about it. I still hold to my opinion that Rufus is just spoiled. He gets mad if he doesn't get what he wants or things don't go his way" She smirked and Reno grinned once again.

"That's true. He just stormed after you for no reason, I'll try and stop him next time" Reno told her.

"There wont be a next time, I'm going to do my best to avoid him" Tifa gave a nod.

"Good because either way one of us is walking away broken. If he sees you he'll hurt you but if I try and stop him he'll hurt me" Reno gave her a genuine smile.

"Then I'll make sure he never sees me" Tifa reassured him.

"Oh but!" Reno said suddenly remembering, "he's in our camping group and lots of your classes" "Well teachers are there, it's just after school I have to be careful" Tifa grinned at his concern. She wasn't worried. Rufus, in her mind, was no match for her.

"To you not getting your ass kicked" Reno said and tapped his glass to hers. Tifa smirked and tapped his glass back.

* * *

Yuffie twirled down the hall followed by a giggling Tifa and Aerith. Yuffie had been hyper all morning and it was more then entertaining for Tifa and Aerith. It was the 4th day of school. The first 3 days had gone by very quickly. Tifa had been excited for the camping trip everyday. They would be leaving tomorrow. Aerith and Yuffie were the same way. They had been talking about it constantly.

"We leave for camping tomorrow" Aerith grinned.

"Goodie!" Yuffie bounced up and down. Vincent walked up beside her. He slid his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Excited for camping Vincent?" "Of course" He told her. Tifa waved to her friends as she headed of to her English class. Yuffie stayed with Vincent for a while.

"You know it's our 2 and a half year anniversary in 3 days" Yuffie reminded him.

"Really?" Vincent had totally forgotten. He relied on Yuffie to remind him of such things. Yuffie whacked him in the chest.

"How could you forget?" Yuffie said giving him puppy dog eyes.

"We'll celebrate while we're camping" Vincent gave her a small smile, a rare sight across his slightly pale face.

"Great" Yuffie grinned and they walked to class together. Yuffie and Vincent passed Rufus' group on the way. They snickered at them as they passed. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Found a way to get back at Tifa?" Reno asked, hoping to hear the right answer.

"Yup" Rufus smirked. Reno frowned, wrong answer.

"How?" Tseng asked, suddenly becoming interested in their conversation.

"You'll see" Rufus let an evil smirk cross his face as he thought of how embarrassing this would be for her.

* * *

Whhhheee chpt 1 is done! Hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

Okie Chpt. 2. I've been really bad with editing on these chapters. There's probably tons of mistakes but I'm really tired these days and so you'll have to bear with me ) Alright time to find out about Rufus' revenge thingy!

* * *

Tifa sat in her desk in English. She was trying hard to pay attention to the teacher's lesson on Character analysis but she found what lay beyond the window much more interesting. Tifa was counting down the 5 minutes left of class. She looked towards the door; students were walking by in big crowds. Tifa wondered why. It was unlikely that every student had been let out early. Teachers were passing by too. The class's attention was drawn towards the door. The teacher gave up trying to control them and they all headed into the hall.  
Tifa pushed past the other people to where everyone was crowned. Aerith met her along the way. In the distance she could see Rufus standing on top of a table. He was speaking to everyone. He looked like he was putting on a display for all to see.

"Tifa your not going to believe this, I still can't" Aerith said and they continued to push their way through.

"What? What is it?" Tifa could only imagine what Rufus was doing.

"He has a picture of…" Aerith was about to finish but they had reached the crowd. Tifa stopped dead as she saw a picture of her hanging on the wall. "You..." Aerith finished. Tifa's mouth dropped open. It wasn't any picture of her; it was a computer-modified picture of her in a beard and overalls. She looked like a man. The words written over it read "They raised her as a girl but really Tifa Lockhart was Timmy Lockhart, cross dresser" Tifa was furious.

Rufus was perched on top of a tabl when he spotted her. He was more then satisfied with her expression. All the students looked where he was standing. The all broke into fits of laughter and pointed at her.

"How did the operation go?" "So you really did get breast implants" "I can't believe I use to like you" "You were prettier as a guy" Tifa was hurt by all their comments but no one seemed to notice. The verbal bombardment continued as Tifa stood there and took it. Once Tifa regained her composer she got mad. Rufus watched as her expression went from sad to furious. The colour rose in her cheeks and she glared up at him. The students started to fall silent as they saw 'death' written in her eyes.

"You" Tifa pointed, "You baby, you can' t take one person standing up to you. You just have to do something to get even" Tifa started advancing towards to table her was standing on. Rufus jumped off and crossed his arms over his chest. The students moved out of her way as she made her way towards him. "Lets see how you do when you're dead!" Tifa snapped and dove towards to him.  
Rufus had no time to react as the tiny girl wrapped her hands around his neck. She had him in a serious strangled hold. A comment of "Go Timmy!" set Tifa off even more. Rufus grabbed her waist and lifted her up. She kicked him in the shins and he dropped her. Tifa stumbled back but quickly ran at him again. This time one of the teachers put his arm in between her and her target. Aerith and Cloud grabbed hold of Tifa and pulled her away. They glared daggers into each other's eyes. The teachers sent everyone away to their next classes.

Once the hallway was clear the supervisors pulled down the poster and ripped it up. Tifa and Rufus were sent to their art class. They received no punishment. Rufus had put up the poster and Tifa had fought him, they cancelled each other out. Tifa was walking a short distance in front of Rufus. She was still furious. People would make fun of her for the rest of the year. Rufus was smirking. He had gotten away with nothing but a bruised shin. He saw Tifa's eyes shift back towards him once in a while. He knew she was pissed.

Tifa sat down in a huff. She continued working on her picture in silence. No one dared to talk to her. Not even Aerith and Yuffie. They would occasionally glace her way but found she refused to look up.  
Rufus sat at the other end of the room looking more then satisfied. She had made a fool of him and now he had made a bigger fool of her. They were even as far as he was concern. He held no grudge but he knew she did.

Tifa continued to be furious during socials, math and English. She finally lightened up when lunch arrived. Aerith and Yuffie exchanged a glace. They both knew it was now safe to talk to her.

"Tifa?" Yuffie started quietly.

"What?" She almost snapped.

"Are… you okay?" Aerith asked Yuffie's question.

"Couldn't be better" Tifa gritted her teeth. Aerith and Yuffie smiled. They knew she was mad but it was nothing compared to how she would've reacted if they'd asked her earlier.

Tifa stomped out of the school and across the grass. She was more then relieved to be out of there. She stopped when she heard voices around the corner. One she recognised almost instantly. Rufus was talking with his friends. Tifa inched closer to listen.

"Did you see the look on her face" Tseng chuckled.

"Priceless" Rufus smirked, "She got what she dissevered" "Sure did" Elena agreed.

"I've got something else in store for her too" Rufus grinned evilly.

"I thought you got your revenge" Reno said.

"I did but I'm just doing this cuz I don't like her" Rufus told him.

"Oh" "What is it?" Tseng asked.

"Well… I heard the teachers talking and one said that the cabin, that we have to hike too, the door locks instantly. Keeps bears out or something. The windows are bared and everything" Rufus started to explain.

"Someone can ask Tifa to get us the food and the we'll close the door. Since we'd have to hike back and people with a key would have to hike up to get her they'd probably make her stay the night." "How is that good?" Elena asked.

"Just is, we're doin it anyways" Rufus told them almost sternly.

"Okay what ever" Tseng shrugged.

"This revenge thing is getting old. Makes me think you like her, you know how little kids tease the girl they like" Reno snickered "It's like that but the high school version." "I do not like her" Rufus snapped, "This'll just teacher her never to mess with me again." "Fine" Reno rolled his eyes. "Bye" he waved as he walked away and headed to 7th Heaven.

Tifa slipped away from them and took the other rote to 7th Heaven. So Rufus Shinra was trying to mess with her. We'll see about that. Tifa thought about the plan on her way to work. She wouldn't care about being locked up as long as he was there with her. If his plan back fried that would be the best in her mind. Tifa pushed open the door to the bar and smiled when she saw Reno sitting and waiting.

"I have a plan" Tifa smirked as she made her way behind the counter. "What's that?" Reno asked intrigued. "You know how Rufus wants to trap me in a cabin?" Tifa was sliding him his usual drink. Reno dropped his mouth open.

"How'd you know about that?" Reno exclaimed, and then his expression grew sly. "Were you ease dropping" "Mayyybe" Tifa giggled.

"Evil girl" Reno rolled his eyes.

"Well anyways, I wouldn't mind getting trapped in there as long as he's there with me" Tifa told him.

"Ooooo romantic time is it?" Reno chuckled.

"No! Not like that" Tifa laughed, "I mean it would be better if his own plan got him trapped as well." "That's true. Rufus is my best friend but once in a while I want to see someone put him in his place" Reno sighed.

"Well I'm just the person. Don't think we won't have tons of fights over the course of a night" Tifa smirked.

"Good point. So what do you need me for?" Reno asked.

"I need you to close the door," Tifa told him.

"Done" Reno gave a nod.

"Perfect"

* * *

A few days later Tifa and her friends were pilled into the bus. Aerith sat calmly, not too excited about the boring bus ride to the camp. Yuffie couldn't stop bouncing around. Vincent stretched his arm over her shoulder and tried to hold her in place. Cloud slipped in beside Aerith. Tifa frowned at her friend's sad expression. Aerith was still thinking about Cloud and Zack. She wanted to date Zack but somehow felt it would be disloyal to Cloud, even though they had never once dated. Tifa knew Aerith would figure it out eventually. Tifa just hoped she would be happy.

Yuffie calmed down once the bus started moving. The teacher yelled over the student's voices.

"Listen everyone" The bus quieted down. "Yuffie's group will be going on the 5 hour walk first" Perfect. "Next is…." Tifa stopped listening after that. She exchanged a glance with Reno and they smirked at each other. Rufus noticed and frowned.

"What are you looking at her for?" Rufus snapped, as a pang of jealousy flew through him.

"Not her, that chick" Reno saved himself by pointing to the girl sitting in front of Tifa.

"Oh, whatever then" Rufus turned back around. Reno let a breath go. That was close.

Tifa was luck to have a seat all to herself. She stretched her legs out far in front of her and tried to sleep. Leaning her head back against the window, it wasn't the most comfortable but since it was 7 am she wanted to sleep some more. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Aerith leaned back in her seat. She looked out the window. She hated bus rides. No matter who she sat with, it was boring. She looked outside at the scenery rolling by the window. Cloud looked over at her. He liked her and he knew it but he couldn't bring himself to ask her out. He had no trouble with other girls, just this one. He looked over at Yuffie and Vincent. Vincent was rolling his eyes while Yuffie was poking at his pocket trying to steal his wallet Cloud glanced back at Tifa. He could only see her feet and assumed she was asleep. He was just as bored as Aerith now.

The bus pulled up in front of a very forested campground. The bus jerked to a stop and Tifa woke up from being thrown to the side, out of her seat. She checked her watch. It told her it was 8:30 am. Tifa was pleased she was able to sleep for a while. She looked out the window. The large wooden cabins they were staying in were scatter everywhere. The ones meant for girls had pink doors and the ones for boys had blue doors. A childish touch in Tifa's opinion. Tall trees where everywhere she looked. Tifa was happy with that. If she were ever pushed outside in her underwear by her horrible but wonderful friends she would have tons of places to hide. Tifa could see a large emerald coloured lake. Tifa smirked, she couldn't wait to go swimming, or at least push Aerith in the water.

"If you like how it looks from the window. Wait till you get outside" Aerith giggled and pulled Tifa up. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah" She walked off the bus following after Aerith. Mr. Valentino was explaining the rules. Tifa, once again, tuned him out; it was becoming a talent of hers. They were told to set up in their cabins and report back at the main lodge at 9 am to receive their intrusions.

Tifa found out that Aerith, Yuffie and Elena were in cabin 5. Tifa didn't mind Elena sleeping with them as long as she didn't talk about Rufus, or talk at all. She followed Aerith and Yuffie.

"Isn't this great" Aerith smiled, "Aside from being with Rufus and Reno all the time, this is awesome!" "Yeah, I haven't been away from my parents in a long time" Yuffie stretched her arms out in the open air.

"It's like a girls dream come true, camping with her best friends and boys!" Tifa laughed and Aerith giggled. Aerith pushed the door open when they found their cabin. Tifa looked inside. It was a good size. It was rectangular in shape and smelled strongly of wood. There were bunk beds to the right of the door set up across from each other. Tifa flung her bag onto a bottom bunk. She never liked the top after she fell out of it in 6th grade. Yuffie and Aerith grabbed the 2 top ones.

Elena timidly entered their room. She threw her bag onto the remaining bottom bunk without complaint and left.

"If she stays this quiet we might get along" Yuffie smirked.

"True, but let's try and be nice anyways" Tifa shrugged. They headed out the door and ran across the large field to the lodge. Tifa would have wanted more time to walk around or lay down in her cabin but work had to be done.

Students crowded into the dinning hall. Each group had their own conversations going. A large whistle silenced everyone. The teachers stood above everyone and called out where every class should report. Tifa walked over to the corner where her class was found. Mr. Valentino dealt orders to the other student first. They would be going on things like short nature hikes around the area, in the different woods and other location. Each location required a journal entry and photograph as proof of it's discovery. Tifa's group stepped forward once it was their turn. Rufus, Reno and Elena stood with their arms crossed and bored expressions on their faces. Yuffie was playing with her hair. Aerith and Tifa both look interested in what Mr. Valentino had to say. He was staring at the mismatched group as an expression of amusement played on his aged face. Tifa figured he was wondering why he had put them all in the same group and what the damage would cost for the sure to be fights.

"Well you'll be arriving at 2 if you stay on track" He told them, "You'll be back at six just in time for dinner but don't waist time, it gets dark fast." His voice had a stern tone to it now.

"We wont" Aerith reassure him. Reno snickered and muttered 'suck up' to Elena. Tifa shot him a look and Rufus shot her one. Mr. Valentino sighed.

"Don't' break anything" He gave up "Snacks are in the fridge. Take only the items in the box with your group's number" "Okay" Tifa gave a nod. With that he let them go. They started towards the trial. Aerith decided to act like the 3 jerks weren't with them.

"Okay, we need to talk about prom dresses and a party after" Aerith loved to plan things. Her plans always started with the word "Okay" "Well we'll go dress shopping when we get back from this trip." Tifa said.

"Yeah that way we wont be looking for a dress the week before" Yuffie agreed.

"Who are we bringing as dates?" Aerith asked.

"Vincent" Yuffie said.

"Zack" Aerith decided.

"What about Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"We'll see what happens but until further notice it's Zack" Aerith gave a solid nod.

"What about you Tiff?" Yuffie asked.

"I dunno, no one I guess. I don't really need to go with anyone" Tifa shrugged.

"More like you can't get anyone to go with you" Tifa heard Rufus snicker to Reno. Tifa frowned; she didn't care about what he had to say. To her surprise Aerith turned around and yelled at him.

"She can to! She can get 1000 more dates then you can!" She snapped. Rufus looked taken back for a few seconds but soon found his words once again.

"In her dreams" He lamely snapped back. Aerith turned back around not wanting to bother with him anymore. They hiked in silence for a while until Yuffie finally spoke up.

"Hey Tifa?" She questioned.

"Yeah?" She replied. The 3 behind them started listening.

"Have you heard anything from your mom lately?" Yuffie asked, "I know it's not the best time to be asking but I'm just curious" "No" Tifa's eyes softened. After her dad died her mom had to go off and work in far away places. Her boss had sent her to Paris recently. Tifa never got anything from her mom but money. She'd rather have her mom back then any amount of money in the world.

"Oh" Yuffie put her arm around her friend. "I'm sure she'll write" Tifa let tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew Yuffie was only trying to help but it wasn't working. Her mom never wrote. And when she did come home for a day she would yell at Tifa for not caring more about her father and not making enough money.

"Cry baby" Elena snapped under her breath. Rufus didn't join in her torment. He knew how it felt. His mom died when he was a boy and his dad was about as nice as a hornet. Elena was expecting a response from Rufus but soon remember why she didn't get one.

"Smile Tifa" Aerith said and poked her friend in the side. Tifa giggled through her tears. She hated being ticklish. "Yeah, I'm sorry I mentioned it. We're on our fun weekend!" Yuffie poked her other side, "No time for tears" Tifa nodded and wiped her eyes. Rufus and Reno, at that moment, both wanted to hug her. She looked so sad and almost scared. But of course neither one did. Rufus remembered his hate for her and his plan and soon forgot all about pitying her. Besides no one ever pitied him.

They were all dead tired by the time the cabin was insight. Everyone had started writing in their journals as they walked. Neatness didn't matter since the entries would be typed up when they got back to school. Yuffie was the only one who had trouble staying straight while she wrote. She would occasionally stumble off to the side only to be pulled back by Aerith or Tifa. Tifa was actually surprised teachers would allow their students to hike this far without supervision or quick way back. She guess they thought since they were in grade 12 nothing could go wrong.

"Look there it is" Reno looked up from his paper and pointed to the cabin. Everyone looked up. It was close now. Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie put away their papers and took off running for it. Rufus rolled his eyes at their childishness. Tifa panted as she sprinted towards it.

"Ten bucks says I beat you!" Yuffie called taking the lead. "Your on!" Aerith took off after her. Tifa shrugged and picked up the pace as well. Tifa stayed behind for the most part, only gaining the lead once. Aerith and Yuffie were neck and neck until Yuffie suddenly burst forward and beat the two.

"You own me ten bucks" Yuffie held out her hand.

"Fine" Aerith gave her five and Tifa gave her the other five. Yuffie looked tired but pleased with herself. "Alright I'll get the snacks" Yuffie said and marched towards the cabin.

"Just wait for the slow pokes," Aerith pointed towards Reno and his friends. Tifa didn't know if she should object and send Yuffie in or wait till they got there and be locked in. She could just end it without any trouble but she wanted to see the look on Rufus' face when his plan backfired. Tifa knew she could stand spending the night with him but she wasn't sure he could stand her.

"What time is it?" Yuffie asked.

"2:15, we're on schedule" Tifa smiled. Reno, Elena and Rufus finally joined them. Reno dropped down onto a rock, Elena did the same. Rufus just stood there. Tifa knew his ego was too big to sit down and rest, it would mean he was tired and no one must ever know that.

"Okay I'll go get the snacks" Yuffie bounce.

"No way you'll steal them all for yourself" Reno snapped; he was trying to help both Tifa and Rufus with their plans.

"Well if we send one of you in you'll take it all for yourselves too" Aerith defended.

"We'll send in one from each group" Tifa smiled.

"Okay" Aerith agreed.

"I'll go" Tifa volunteered.

"Who else" Yuffie asked impatiently. "Rufus just go" She ordered. Rufus didn't know what to do. There was no way out of it. Fine then, he'd have to abandon his plan and do something else. He walked with Tifa to the cabin. Reno started walking around the cabin. He was the restless type and could never sit still for more then 2 minutes. Elena was writing Tseng's name in the dirt with little hearts. Aerith was sitting against a rock while Yuffie was lying with her head on Aerith's' lap. Tifa looked around the cabin. She was surprised by it's appearance. It looked like someone was living here. There was a washroom and kitchen, a small bed, and dinning table. The best Tifa could guess, this was Mr. Valentino's summer cabin he bravely lent out as a pit stop for the students. She walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Reno stop pacing" Aerith snapped lightly, it was driving her nuts. Yuffie and Elena smiled; Aerith had said what they were about to.

"Fine" Reno leaned on the open cabin door. This would be perfect. "Good luck Tifa," He thought and he fell back. Realistically losing his balance he fell back and into the door. It slammed and clicked shut.

"Reno you idiot!" Elena jumped up and rushed to the door. Inside Rufus whirled around and ran to the door as well. He kicked it a few times.

"Reno!" He snapped. Aerith and Yuffie looked confused.

"What's the problem? Just open it" Aerith told them as if it was no big deal.

"It's locked!" Elena hissed. She pulled on the door a few times to prove her point. Yuffie and Aerith jumped up and ran over to where everyone was. Aerith pulled the door a few times and gasped. Yuffie pushed her aside and tired to open it herself.

"No way!" Yuffie exclaimed. Aerith ran around to the windows. When she saw they were bared she freaked out.

"Oh my gosh! They're stuck" Aerith cried.

"Go get a key guys." Tifa said calmly and walked to the window where her 2 friends stood.

"But we'll be back by 6 and then they have to walk up and it'll be like 11 and then to get back…" Aerith was talking at super sonic speed.

"Aerith we have food and such so we won't die. It'll be fine" Tifa smiled, she tired to look calm but inside her was a bit nervous. Her plan wasn't looking so great anymore.

"Reno how could you shut the damn door" Rufus snapped. He was sure the Reno knew he was in there. He figured it was an accident.

"I didn't mean to, seriously man" Reno acted sorry.

"Go get a key and hurry up!" Rufus hissed through the door. "Hey Tifa?" Yuffie asked.

"Yeah?" Tifa went to the window again.

"Can you pass us drinks anyways" She smiled sheepishly.

"Yuffie!" Aerith exclaimed, "This is no time for that.

"Sorry" Yuffie looked at the ground. Tifa went to the fridge and grabbed 4 pops. She fed them through the bars and Yuffie caught them.

"Thank you" She smiled. Tifa shrugged.

"We're already stuck, no need for you to go thirsty," Tifa said. Aerith and Yuffie left the window and went to the door.

"Okay we're going to get help. We'll be as fast as we can" Yuffie said.

"Don't run! If you trip and break something it'll take twice as long," Tifa warned. She didn't want her friends getting hurt.

"But…" Yuffie started.

"Don't" Tifa said firmly.

"Okay… Bye Tifa" Aerith sighed. Tifa heard footsteps leaving. Oh crap, what had she gotten herself into. She sat down on the small bed and sighed. Rufus just crossed his arms and leaned against the door. He would angrily glance in her direction every now and then but reminded quite. Tifa's stomach growled. She looked down at it then over at Rufus.

"Are you hungry?" She asked quietly.

"Kinda" He shrugged. Tifa walked over to the fridge and opened it. Rufus joined her and stood by her side. Tifa bent over and looked into it. Rufus blushed when he found his eyes staring at her. He shook his head and remained poised.

"Lets see…" Tifa looked in the box with their number on it. "We've got um… power bars and small bags of chips" She stared at it. It's wasn't much but it would have to do.

"That'll be fine for now. If not we can always steal the other group's" Rufus smirked. Tifa thought about it. Rufus was selfish but then again this was a life or death thing.

"Yeah we could," She agreed, much to Rufus' surprise. Tifa figured the teachers wouldn't mind them taking the other people's food since they'd rather find alive students then dead ones. Tifa tossed him a power bar and bag of chips. She grabbed her own and sat back down on the bed. To her surprise Rufus joined her. They sat cross-legged across from each other. Tifa looked over at him. He looked tried, his eyes slightly closed and blonde hair falling into them. Tifa thought maybe he'd be nice to her during their stay.

"This is all your fault you know" Rufus told her. Never mind… "What? Why me?" Tifa glared at him.

"Your friends had to have two people go in," Rufus said, "If I didn't have to go then you'd be stuck and not me" "And that makes things better" Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Yes" Rufus said in a matter-of-fact tone. Tifa shot him an angry look. Brat!

"What ever" Tifa shook her head, "But may I remind you it was your friend that closed the door" "He's your friend too" Rufus bit back.

"What?" Tifa was surprised he knew.

"I'm not that stupid. I know where everyone in Midgar works and I know Reno goes to your bar everyday" Rufus said.

"Oh" Tifa shrugged "Yeah he's my friend too but it was your plan" She clapped her hand over her mouth.

"What?" Rufus' eyes widened, how did she know.

"You… you wanted to trap me in here. I over heard you talking. So I asked Reno to lock both of us in," Tifa admitted. She was sure he was going to hit her.

"You did what!?" Rufus snapped. The redness in his cheeks darkened and he stared at her in a murderous rage.

"Hey how do you think I would've felt if I was locked in here? That was a horrible trick to play on someone after the only thing I did to you was take away one of your victims" Tifa now had tears streaming down her face. She was so sick of getting picked on all the time. Boys laughed at her chest and level of confidence. Girls criticized her way of dressing and called her things like 'slut' and 'tramp.' She was just sick of it. Rufus wasn't as heartless as he appeared. He hated seeing people cry and being sad. He looked away form her.

"Girls cry to easily" Was all he said. Tifa wiped her eyes; she hated showing this kind of weakness.

"It's better to cry to easily then not at all," She almost snapped. Rufus looked back at her.

"That's true" Rufus said, Tifa was surprised. She scrunched up her power bard wrapper and empty chip bag.

"Lets see who can get it in the trash" Tifa said, Rufus raised an eyebrow. Tifa switched her moods often; Rufus could never figure her out.

"You surprise me with your childishness" Rufus told her.

"You surprise me with your boringness" Tifa grinned and chucked the power bar wrapper into the trash. Rufus smirked and did the same.

"Swish, swish baby" She giggled and threw the chip bag. It bounced off the side and landed on the floor.

"Lets make this one a bet" Rufus challenged.

"Okay, if you get this in you win. And if you miss I win" Tifa smiled.

"What's the prize?" Rufus asked.

"If I win… you have too" She thought hard, what could she do that would make him hate her for life. Something he would regret forever, and hate forever. She got it "You have to kiss me!" "What!" Rufus snapped.

"Yeah" Tifa gave a nod. Rufus was dumbfounded, he though this girl hated him as much as he hated her. He did nooooot want to kiss her. He got it that was her plan; she wanted to humiliate him for life. He stared at her beautiful face and full lips. If he hated her so much then why did he want to miss?

"Fine, if I win I get all the food to myself" Rufus smirked again, Tifa's jaw dropped.

"No fair" Tifa whined, she would be so hungry. She didn't know what fate was worse, having to kiss him or going hungry.

"I think it's perfectly fair." Rufus said standing up. Tifa stood up next to him and folded her arms over her chest. "No jinxing either," He warned.

"Fine" Tifa agreed. She was doomed. They both held their breath as Rufus threw the chip bag. It hit the rim of the trashcan and fell to the side. Both their mouths dropped open as they saw it land on the floor. Tifa swallowed hard.

"You know what, I think we should cancel the bet" Tifa said turning to him. Rufus smirked at her. She didn't want to do this, but a bet's a bet. He would've kept all the food for himself.

"Hey you picked your prize," He told her. Tifa stared at him; there was no way he wanted to go through with this.

"Fine" She said. Tifa stepped closer to him. She leaned up and gave him a soft kiss. To her surprise Rufus put his hand around her waist and pulled her closer. He deepened the kiss. Tifa was more then broke apart and she stared at him once again.

"Just making it as unbearable for you as it was for me. No one tries to mess with Rufus Shinra and wins," He told her while running his finger slowly down her jaw line. Tifa stuck her tongue out at him. That was suppose to be his punishment not hers. He looked like he had enjoyed it. Stupid jerk.

* * *

gasp their trapped in a cabin! I'm having fun with this :p This fanfic is probably going to move pretty fast cuz I just got an idea for another one :S hehe.


	3. Chapter 3

Okie chpt 3! Hmmmm I'm just going to write what ever comes into my head cuz I have no clue what I'm going to do for this one….

* * *

"What!" Mr. Valentino yelled in the middle of the dinning hall when the panting and sweating group told him what had happened.

"They're locked in" Yuffie gave a nod.

"How did this happen?" Mr. Valentino shook his head.

"I was leaning on the door and kinda fell" Reno shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Oh my gosh, this was not suppose to happen. Grade 12s should be better then this" He paced back and forth. "All the other hikes to that location are cancelled, it'll be a break day for other students. You and your group will continue on as usual while staff go and fetch them in the morning." "Why not now?" Yuffie asked. Aerith had pointed out the hours before but Yuffie had forgotten.

"We can't be walking back through the woods that late at night. They'll be fine. They have food" He shook his head. His tone of voice made them think he thought they dissevered it. Aerith sighed. She sat down at a table with Cloud and Vincent after Mr. Valentino had shooed them away.

"I can't believe that!" Cloud laughed after he heard their story. "Rufus and Tifa will most likely kill each other by morning" "Lets hope Tifa wins any fights" Yuffie gave a nod. Aerith just sat there in worry. What if everything wasn't okay?

* * *

"I call the bed" Tifa spoke up. She was pacing back and forth around the room while Rufus was standing in the corner. She had just remembered the bed and she wanted it. "No way, I get it" Rufus glared at her, "I'm a ShinRa, I always get what I want" "Not today, I called it." Tifa put her hands on her hips.

"Fine but I'll be sleeping on top of you then cuz I'm not sleeping on the floor," Rufus snapped.

"You better not cuz…. Um.. Um… I… I sleep in the nude!" Tifa finally found a lame thing to say.

"Perfect" He smirked, Tifa frowned, this wasn't going to work.

"Fine we'll have to share" She glared at him. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Fine" Rufus agreed this would be interesting. Tifa walked over to the window. Stupid bars, they could've escaped by now. Tifa looked outside. It was getting dark. Her watch told her it was 9 pm.

"It's so dark" She said more to herself then to Rufus.

"Scared?" He smirked.

"No" Tifa bit back. She rolled her eyes and walked to the middle of the cabin.

"You never know what'll happen in the dark," Rufus told her; she rolled her eyes. She heard him walking up behind her. He started running his fingers up and down her arms, mimicking spider legs. Tifa shivered lightly.

"Quit it Rufus" She rolled her eyes once again.

"What if I'm not Rufus" He deepened his voice to a whisper and leaned closer to her ear. "What if I killed him and he's lying dead in the corner" "That would be a good thing" Tifa smirked, his voice did sound different but she wasn't fooled "What if you turn around and it's not Rufus, it's some cold blooded murderer" He purred into her other ear. It was very dark, and he did sound very different. Tifa was only slightly scared. There was always a small possibility the boy running his crawling fingers down her arms wasn't Rufus but she doubted it. Tifa turned around and sure enough it was Rufus, looking smug.

"Dork" Tifa hit him in the chest.

"You were scared, admit it" Rufus chuckled.

"I was not" Tifa laughed, "I'd be more scared if I was outside but we're safe in here." "Sure" He turned around and walked back over to the bed. He sat down and looked back over at her. Tifa didn't want to sleep but she was really tired. She decided to keep walking around the room. Tifa wrapped her arms around her self in a hug. She was cold; she only wore a tank top and jeans since she somehow didn't think this was going to happen. She shivered but continued walking. She knew that was the only way to warm herself up.

"Tifa?" Rufus asked from the bed as he looked up at the ceiling.

"What?" "What's it like to have a mother" He questioned and sat up. Tifa stopped walking and looked over at him.

"What's it like to have a father?" Tifa asked him back. "Oh" Rufus got it; her mother was like his father. Having them didn't mean you actually did have them.

"Yeah" Tifa walked over to the bed and sat down.

"How old were you when it happened?" Rufus asked her. He reach up and touched her hair. He moved it behind her ear and behind her shoulder. Tifa recoiled slightly. His gentleness was freaking her out. Tifa guessed it was a momentary laps in judgement and he would be back to insulting her in the morning. Tifa lay down beside him.

"I was three" She said, "What about you?" Tifa knew all about Rufus' family since it was always in newspapers.

"Four" He told her, he rolled over and propped himself up on his elbow. He looked down at her.

"You know you could live at ShinRa if you wanted. Then you wouldn't have to pay rent," Rufus said surprising even himself. Tifa's eyes widened as she looked up at him.

"What?" She wasn't sure how to react. This would solve all her money troubles. She could work less and have a normal teen life. Was he serious? "Are you serious?" "Yeah" Rufus made a mental noted to remember and not forget, even if he fought with her. Tifa's eyes filled with happy tears and she jumped forward and hugged him. Rufus fell back and chuckled, he was almost happy to see her this way.

"Thank you" Tifa got off of him and wiped her eyes.

"No big deal" Rufus smiled, the first time she'd seen him actually smile. Tifa lay back and wondered, she wondered about her mom. She would have to mail her and inform her of her knew address. Tifa hoped she wouldn't get mad. Tifa stared up at the ceiling. Rufus stared at her. What had he done? He knew this would help her but now he was stuck with her. But, somehow he didn't mind. He could tell she was thinking. Tifa turned her head to look at him. She miscalculated the distance between them and her lips ended up locking with his. Tifa's eyes widened, but to her surprise Rufus didn't pull away. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Tifa felt warm and softly closed her eyes. Rufus deepened the kiss. He knew it was accidental but he didn't care. This was the third time he had held her so close. The first time didn't really count since he was trying to hurt her, but it was the third time non-the less. Tifa broke the kiss and stared at him.

"Sorry" She didn't know what to say, so she said that.

"For what" He smirked.

"I… I don't know" Tifa laughed a little and rested her head under his chin. Rufus smiled and closed his eyes.

"Lets try and sleep okay?" Rufus asked.

"Okay" Tifa agreed. She closed her eyes as well. She wasn't sure how but she was in love with someone she purely hated only moments ago. She rapid change of heart scared her but she didn't care. If he never talked to her again she wouldn't care, this moment was more then enough to make her happy.

* * *

"Aerith lay down!" Yuffie told her friend who was nervously pacing around the small cabin.

"What if she's hurt or hungry or Rufus tried to kiss her!" Aerith stopped pacing and sat down on what should have been Tifa's bed.

"Rufus wouldn't do that" Elena commented.

"I dunno, Tifa's pretty hot," Yuffie laughed.

"Yuffie, this is no time for jokes" Aerith exclaimed.

"Aerith breath!" Yuffie commanded, "Tifa and Rufus have food, they have pop, they have no warm but they can huddle together if they really need to. They'll be fine, they're not lost in the woods with nothing they're just locked in a cabin." "What if a murder comes!" Elena suddenly sat up.

"Here? In these woods, not likely. And besides if they can't get out murders can't get in" Yuffie told her. Elena lay back down. She was just as worried as Aerith.

"How can you be so calm?" Aerith asked and crawled into her bed.

"Because I know they'll be fine. We can sleep easy and have a fun day tomorrow. And around lunch time they'll be back" Yuffie shrugged.

"Yuffie your too calm" Aerith shook her head. She pulled her sleeping bag over her head. "Please be okay Tifa" "Aerith they'll be fine" Yuffie rolled her eyes and turned around. She closed her eyes. She was worried too but she knew they would be okay.

* * *

Tifa woke up freezing cold. She knew Rufus was too since he was shivering. She was still in his arms.

"Tifa?" He asked when he saw she was awake.

"What?" She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry" "What?" She was surprised to hear those words from his mouth.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think such a harmless prank would be this hard on someone" Rufus hugged her tighter to stay warm.

"Neither did I" Tifa sighed; this was the stupidest thing she'd ever done. But in a way she got a new home out of it. She checked her watch. It was 11 am. They had slept a long time. Tifa thought about her teachers. They would probably get up at 6 am, which meant they would be there soon. Tifa got up and left Rufus' grasp. She looked out the window and sure enough she saw Mr. Valentino and Mr. Gilmore coming towards them.

"Hey we're saved" Tifa smiled and rushed over to Rufus. She pulled him out of bed. He shook his head to wake himself up and joined her at the window. He saw the two teachers and couldn't help but smile. They unlocked the door and Tifa ran outside. She flung her arms up in the air.

"Free!" She laughed. Mr. Gilmore smiled.

"We're glad you're safe, now lets head back okay?" He said.

"Okay" Tifa smiled.

"You know your going to lose marks for this" Mr. Valentino snapped.

"We know" Rufus frowned and rolled his eyes.

"I don't care" Tifa shrugged.

"Excuse me Miss Lockhart?" He gapped.

"I'm free, I can have a shower, I have put on warm clothes, I'm alive, I don't care about grades at the moment" Tifa told him. Though she was never worried about living, she added that in there for dramatic effect.

"Oh" Mr. Valentino frowned. "Maybe going through this was punishment enough. Never mind about the marks. Tifa smiled. She felt refreshed, having slept so late. She was cold and hungry but fine otherwise. She walked beside Rufus the whole way back. Once when Mr. Valentino and Mr. Gilmore weren't looking he held her hand and squeezed it briefly. Tifa knew it was a 'We made it' gesture. Rufus still seemed to hate her but just not as much. He didn't smiled or speak once during the walk back.

* * *

"When are they coming back?" Aerith asked nervously and Yuffie and her paddled their canoe. Reno and Elena were in another canoe having pretty much the same conversation.

"Probably around 4ish, maybe" Yuffie told her.

"Do you think they're okay?" Elena asked.

"Yeah of course" Reno told her.

"Okay" Aerith and Elena sighed. Aerith and Yuffie pulled their canoe up onto shore. They slipped their paddles inside the canoe as they were told to. Aerith and Yuffie grabbed their journals from the backpacks and sat on the dock writing. Their canoeing was done for today. It was the only activity that had noting to do with hiking. They had to write about water and it's creatures. Aerith's mind was obviously somewhere else but she tried to focus on writing.

"You look worried, pretty thing" Aerith looked up when she heard Zack's voice. She hadn't spoken to him since he asked her out.

"A little" She smiled weakly. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her.

"Tifa right?" He already knew the answer.

"Yeah" Aerith told him.

"She'll be back with Rufus anytime now" He assured her.

"You don't think bears got her do you?" Aerith asked.

"No, no" Zack chuckled. "I meant to ask you…" "Yeah?" "How's about that date you promised me 'um… um… later,'" He said quoting her.

"Well it is later. So I say yes" Aerith smiled. She remembered the talk she'd had with Tifa. She wasn't sure if she wanted to but when Cloud had said nothing to her on the bus she was sure it was time to move on for a while.

"Great, see you later babe" He gave her a kiss on the cheek and stood up to leave.

"Bye" Aerith blushed and continued writing. Yuffie looked over at her.

"What about Cloud?" She asked.

"Maybe later but right now he just doesn't seem interested" Aerith sighed.

"Oh okay" Yuffie accepted her answer. She looked over towards the shore. She saw Cloud walking by staring at them, his gaze moved to Zack and the to the floor. 'Sorry Cloud' Yuffie thought. She looked over to the trail they had taken yesterday. She wasn't sure what time it was but she was hoping to see Tifa come through it. She stared at it for a while until she saw Tifa's smiling face.

"Aerith, Aerith" Yuffie jumped up and pulled at her friend. "Tifa's back" "No way" Aerith jumped up and looked over at the trail. Both girls dropped their journals and sprinted towards her. Tifa looked up to see Yuffie and Aerith flying towards her. She was clear out of the woods and it felt good. She couldn't wait to shower. Mr. Valentino and Mr. Gilmore left them after giving them permission to have the day off.

"Tifa!" Yuffie and Aerith cried and tackled their friend into a hug. Rufus smirked and kept walking.

"Are you okay?" Yuffie asked checking her over.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just cold and kinda hungry" Tifa smiled.

"Lets get you into a shower fast." Aerith pushed her friend towards their cabin. Yuffie ran back to the dock to collect their journals. She looked over to see Rufus talking with his friends. Elena was hugging him and he was rolling his eyes. Reno patted him on the back and grinned. Yuffie smiled, it was nice the Rufus had at least two people who cared about him.

She walked back to the cabin and looked inside. It was empty. She figured Aerith had run Tifa to the shower room after Tifa had gotten new clothes. Yuffie threw their books onto Tifa's bunk and headed back out the door. She ran over to the washroom and found Aerith sitting outside.

"She's in the shower," Aerith pointed back to the door.

"Okay, I'm glad she's back" Yuffie grinned "Me too." Aerith agreed.

Tifa decided this was the best shower of her life. She felt warm again and clean and refreshed. Tifa was more then happy at the moment. She loved shampoo, she love conditioner, she loved water, and she loved big sweaters. Tifa washed her hair and after that stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a tower around her long hair and got dressed. She slipped into clean jeans and a big sweater. She knew that camping didn't mean you had to feel clean all the time and she didn't care she hadn't had a shower. But after staying in that cabin for the night she just needed to feel clean. Tifa combed out her hair and flipped it put into a clip. Several strands fell out and lined her face. She moved her bangs out of her eyes and smiled.

She grabbed her old clothes and headed outside to meet her friends. Yuffie and Aerith stood up and headed to the dining hall. It was just about dinnertime so they grabbed a table.

"So what did you do?" Aerith asked.

"Well we ate chips and power bars," Tifa told her, "Then he tried to scare me, so I hit him. Then we went to sleep" "Weren't you cold?" Yuffie asked. "Yeah" Tifa gave a nod.

"Did you have to sleep on the floor?" Aerith asked.

"No there was a bed," Tifa told them.

"Only one?" Yuffie raised an eyebrow, "You had to sleep with him!" "Yuffie not so loud. He's not that bad, and besides I didn't have a choice, we're both to stubborn to sleep on the floor." Tifa explained.

"Oh" Yuffie smiled.

"It's not that big of a deal, I mean it's mostly my fault" Tifa admitted.

"Huh?" Yuffie and Aerith stared at her. Tifa explained what she had heard and what she told Reno to do. Aerith and Yuffie's mouth slowly started to drop open.

"No way!" Yuffie was shocked. " I can't believe you did that." "Well I didn't know what I was getting into. I wish I hadn't" Tifa sighed, "It wasn't worth it though I got a place to live." "What?" Aerith questioned.

"Rufus said I can live at ShinRa" Tifa said, Yuffie and Aerith were once again shocked. "Really? Um that's… well I don't know what that is. Good because you won't need to work so hard but bad cuz you'll be stuck with him," Yuffie giggled.

"He's not that bad" Tifa repeated.

"I think you like him" Aerith teased, "Or… something happened!" "Oooooo what happened" Yuffie leaned closer to her. Tifa leaned back away from her.

"Nothing geez" She laughed. All further questions were put to a stop when all the students piled into the dinning hall. Yuffie volunteered to get the food and left her row friends. Zack, Cloud and Vincent came to sit with them. Zack put his arm around Aerith and Cloud glared at him.

"Glad to have you back Tifa" Cloud messed up her hair. Tifa swatted his hand away and giggled.

"Yeah, I'm glad you survived" Vincent grinned.

"Thank you" Tifa smirked. Yuffie came back with their food. Tifa ate mostly in silence. She looked over at Cloud. He looked fine but every time Aerith smiled or laughed at one of Zack's joke his expression would turn angry. Tifa couldn't feel sorry for him, she did warn him.

* * *

Tifa lay awake in her bed. She was happy to be in her warm sleeping bag. Still she couldn't sleep. Tifa sat up and stared into the darkness. She could hear Elena and Yuffie snoring and nothing from Aerith. Tifa knew everyone was sleeping soundly, she wished she was too. Tifa decided to take a walk. Maybe the fresh air would do her some good. Tifa got out of bed and slipped a sweater over her pjs. She opened the door quietly and headed outside. It was early in the morning and the teachers who usually keep watch over sneaking students were fast a sleep. Tifa padded out into the cold air and headed down to the beach. She stood at the waters edge. The lake was so quite it made you want to jump in it. Tifa smiled to herself. She had only 1 memory of her dad. They were singing together while Tifa sat on his knee. She knew every word to the song and vowed never to forget it.

"I'm just so tired… wont you sing me to sleep. And fly through my dreams so I can hitch a ride with you tonight and get away from this place have a new name and face I just ain't the same without you in my life" Tifa sang softly. She smiled at the memory. Every time she sang this song when her mom was around her mom would scold her. Tifa frowned at that part of her memory.

"late night drives, all alone in my car I can't help but start singing lines from all our favourite songs and melodies in the air singin life just ain't fair sometimes I still just can't believe you're gone" She continued as she strolled slowly along the beach. She felt peaceful now. A hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Miss Lockhart, what are you doing out here" Tifa jumped at the voice. She knew it wasn't one of her teachers. It sounded like… "Rufus" She quietly hissed.

"You were scared. Admit it" He smirked down at her.

"Was not" Tifa defended, but she was and he knew it.

"Suuure" He chuckled. "What are you doing out here?" "I could asked you the same thing" Tifa said raising an eyebrow, "I couldn't sleep" "Same, to cold" Rufus shivered.

"It's warmer then the cabin," Tifa laughed.

"Nooo the cabin was warmer" Rufus told her in his usual whiny tone.

"How's that?" Tifa asked as she turned her back to him to face the lake once again. He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him. He leaned his face close to her ear.

"Because you were there with me," He purred. Tifa couldn't believe her ears. By the sound of things he liked her. She was shocked. There was no way he could like her, he was well… Rufus. Ack annoying boy! Always confusing her.

"What ever" Tifa laughed, she placed her hands on top of his. "Tifa I want to date you, you know" Rufus told her. He was bold with girls. He didn't care if this was a girl he hated up until yesterday night because he liked her now and that was all that matter. He'd had a change of heart the second she asked him what is was like to have a father. Something just struck him and he started noticing all the wonderful things about her he'd missed before. Her sensitivity and kindness, gorgeous smile and body. Everything about her seemed perfect now.

"I… know" Tifa closed her eyes a little.

"We'd have to keep it a secret until further notice" Rufus said.

"Yeah I know" Tifa turned in his grasp to face him. She knew she could never tell Aerith or Yuffie. They'd kill her or at least think she was nuts. Cloud would be supportive but hate it. Vincent... Well he wouldn't really care. Reno would be fine with it. Elena would freak out as much as Yuffie and Aerith.

"Are we agreed then?" Rufus asked.

"Agreed?" She laughed, "It's so formal" Rufus gave her a look. "Agreed" she smiled.

"Good" He kissed her forehead. "Now go to bed" He pushed her of in the direction of her cabin.

"Fine" Tifa grinned and ran back to her cabin. Rufus watched her leave and smirked.

* * *

Aerith had to wake Tifa up in the morning. Yuffie was already off with Vincent having breakfast.

"Tifa, Tifa" Aerith shook her.

"What…." Tifa groaned.

"Wake up" Aerith sighed; it was like this every time she had to wake Tifa up. The girl just loved to sleep. Aerith was more of a morning person, but Tifa was defiantly not.

"Okay okay I'm up" She sat up and stretched. Tifa flipped her hair back and put it up. She put on her big sweater and new jeans. Tifa headed out the door with Aerith.

"You missed breakfast you know" She shook her head.

"Oh well, there's always lunch" Tifa smiled.

"True. Come on it's time to do another hike" Aerith grabbed her hand and they took off in the direction of the trail. This time they'd be hiking for an hour and doing archery at the end of the trail. Tifa saw Yuffie, Elena, Reno and Rufus all waiting for her. "Tifa! Learn to wake up" Yuffie snapped.

"Yeah gees Lockhart" Reno snickered. "Miss Lockhart you've kept us waiting, do it again and your losing marks" Mr. Gilmore told her.

"Sorry" Tifa smiled. Mr. Gilmore would accompany them since archery had to be supervised. Tifa used the walking time to write in her journal, so did Aerith and Yuffie. Tifa wrote about the trees and blah blah blah what ever would please the teachers. She found this boring; the whole point of the trip was to learn about the different types of geography. So far all she'd learned was cabins are cold and Rufus Shinra isn't' so bad. Tifa finished first and put away her paper. She once again had to pull Yuffie off the side of the trail before she hit a tree.

"Yuffie it's not that big of a talent to stay straight you know" Tifa giggled.

"It is for me," She said without looking up from her paper. Tifa just smiled at her friend. She put her arms behind her head and enjoyed the short hike. She started walking slower then the others. Not something she did with purpose, the scenery just distracted her. She stopped and looked at the lake. She would love to go swimming. Maybe she would one night when everyone was asleep.

"Move it Tifa" Rufus told her as he passed her. He was at the back of the group like always.

"Fine, fine" She walked on.

"I think we should have another bet" He smirked.

"Hmm?" Tifa raised an eyebrow, "What this time?" "First person to get a bulls eye, or closest to it wins" Rufus told her.

"Okay, if I win… I get… " Tifa put a finger to her chin in thought. "Your room in ShinRa" "What!" Rufus's eyes widened. He thought about if for a second, smirked, and then agreed. "Okay, if I win then I get to go swimming with you" "What?" Tifa questioned.

"Tonight at 4 am in the lake" Rufus told her.

"Okay deal" Tifa accepted. She had to win, she wanted his room, and she knew it was the biggest in ShinRa.

"A kiss seals the deal," Rufus told her quietly.

"But…" Tifa looked at everyone. All of them had their backs turned but threatened to turn around at any second. "No one's looking" Rufus grinned. Tifa gave him a quick kiss and ran up to join her friends. Rufus smirked. He won either way. She said she wanted his room, she didn't say he had to get out of it. Rufus knew Tifa wouldn't share and so she'd get the room she would've anyways. Tifa ran up beside Aerith and Yuffie who were still writing. They looked as if they hadn't even noticed she was gone. Aerith finished writing and put her paper away.

"Where'd you go Teef?" Aerith asked, so they had noticed.

"Just to look at the lake," Tifa told her.

"Okay" Aerith smiled.

"Almost done Yuffie?" Aerith asked.

"Yup" Yuffie stopped writing and put her papers away. "Done" "Hey look we're here," Aerith pointed.

"Me first!" Yuffie grinned at ran towards the open shack with targets in front of it. Tifa and Aerith joined her and waited for the other 3 to catch up. Mr. Gilmore went over all the rules, don't shoot each other, don't shoot at animals, don't shoot until your told and so on.

"Okay first pair up" Yuffie and Reno stepped up and took up their bows. Yuffie got one good shot in. Her other 3 arrows went in very which direction. Reno got all of his on the target but it was Yuffie's target he hit. They retrieved their arrows. Aerith and Elena were up next. Aerith got all of her on the target and one in the bull's eye.

"Good job!" Yuffie bounced around. Aerith smirked proudly. Elena did pretty well; she got all the arrows on the target but missed once. She got her pretty close to the bull's eye as well. Tifa and Rufus stepped up next. Tifa aimed and fired. She got a clear miss. She watched as Rufus hit the target. Tifa tried again. She got it in the ring right outside the bull's eye. So did Rufus. The third one landed in the large white area around the circles. Rufus missed. Tifa smirked they were even so far. They both aimed and fired. Tifa and Rufus watch the arrows fly threw the air and one hit the bull's eye.

"Yes!"

* * *

Done chpt 3! This is another bad editing chapter. Sry! Yeeeeah my fanfics, 99 of the time, will have a song in them P I just like music hehe. Hope you liked it!


	4. Chapter 4

Yay! Onto chapter 4! All righty lets see what I can come up with for this one.

* * *

Tifa jumped up and down. This was the second time she'd won one of their bets. Her arrow landed right in the middle of the target. Rufus's arrow totally missed. He frowned, hating to have lost. "Nice shot Teef" Aerith cheered her on. Tifa ran out and picked up her arrows. Rufus did the same.

"You owe me your room" She grinned with pride.

"Brat" He stuck his tongue out at her. "Look who's talking. You can move your stuff out when we get back" Tifa bounced back to the shed. Rufus frowned. He had lost his room. Aw crap. For another hour they were allow to shoot arrows or take walks around the area. Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie had a contest of their own. Who could miss the most times in a row with out trying. Yuffie won and they knew she wasn't faking it. Aerith won the 'who can hit the most bull's eyes' contest. Tifa won the 'who can hit the most in the white part contest.' And that was the end of their contests; it was time to head back. The walk back seemed shorter then the one there. Tifa was still looking at the lake. She was somehow relieved she got out of swimming with Rufus. The dinning hall was noisy as usual. Aerith got the food this time.

"How was canoeing Cloud?" Tifa asked holding back giggles when she saw her friend's went hair. Vincent and Cloud had both fallen into the lake.

"Great" He bit at her.

"It was all his fault" Vincent sat down in a huff.

"It was not Mr. 'I know everything about canoes'" Cloud defended. "To bad I missed it" Tifa giggled. She could only picture Cloud falling out of a canoe. Cloud stuck his tongue out at her. Tifa gave him a 'what ever' look. Yuffie hugged Vincent.

"My poor baby" She exclaimed and laughed. Tifa smiled and Cloud rolled his eyes. Vincent gave Yuffie a kiss on the forehead.

"I know," he agreed smugly. Tifa yawned she was tired already. Aerith returned with their food. Tifa flopped her head down on Aerith's shoulder.

"See what happens when you get up at 3 am to take a walk," Aerith scolded.

"How did you know?" Tifa asked raising her head again.

"I heard you come in" She grinned.

"Ah" Tifa smiled.

"You should learn not to open doors so loud" Aerith laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind" Tifa giggled.

"Why were you out any ways?" Yuffie asked.

"I just couldn't sleep" Tifa shrugged.

"Okay" Yuffie went back to talking to Vincent. Tifa was relieved no other questions were asked.

"Tifa, Tifa" Someone was shaking her. Tifa opened her eyes. She was dead tried. She couldn't understand why since she had gone to bed early. It was still dark out side. What the heck? Tifa looked up at her waker.

"Rufus!" She hissed in the darkness, "What are you doing here"

"Come walk with me" Rufus said and pulled her out of bed. Tifa stood up and put a sweater on. She pulled her hair up in a large clip. She looked at her friends. They were still sound asleep. Tifa let out a breath and opened the door. She kicked Rufus out and shut the door quietly. She grabbed his hand and ran down the to beach.

"Are you nuts" She slammed her fists into his chest. "What would've happened it they'd seen you"

"Easy, I would've said I was trying to pull a prank on you but I got caught" Rufus held her shoulders. Tifa hit him again with both her fists; she rested her head on his chest.

"Dork" She muttered.

"I'm glad you were worried about me" Rufus chuckled. Tifa rolled her eyes at him.

"You wish," She giggled. Rufus held her for a while.

"How's about a swim?" He asked.

"No way you lost our bet" Tifa looked up at him.

"Pleeease" Rufus asked in his spoiled tone. He may have changed a little but he was still a spoiled ShinRa boy.

"Noooo" Tifa whined back.

"Fine" Rufus looked away from her.

"Don't be that way," Tifa told him, he was making her feel bad.

"What way?" He looked back at her.

"Never mind" Tifa laughed a little. She looked out at the lake again. It was so still. She picked up a rock and threw it in lake. The water rippled and quieted once again. Tifa's head snapped up when she heard someone yelling in the distance.

"One last check and then we'll call it a night" It was Mr. V with another teacher.

"Oh crap" Tifa hissed. Rufus grabbed her arm and they ran. They ran into the woods and ducked down into the bushes. Tifa watched as Mr. V and Mrs. Steff walk by. Then had flashlights and were looking around. Tifa was thankful she hadn't gone swimming. Rufus held her close as the teachers passed. Tifa was so sure she saw Mr. V look right at her but he said nothing. Tifa didn't move an inch until they teachers had returned to their cabins.

"That was close" She let out a breath. Rufus relaxed his grip on her. Tifa moved away from him and out of the woods. Rufus followed after her. "Oh well" He shrugged, he knew that with his money and power nothing bad would've happened anyways. Tifa and Rufus walked back to the beach.

"It was their last round so we don't need to worry anymore" Rufus reassured her since she was looking around the camp ground nervously.

"Oh yeah" Tifa realized and calmed down. Rufus smirked at her behaviour. Rufus wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Rufus?" Tifa looked up at him.

"Yeah"

"Why did you hate me?" Tifa asked thinking back to only a few days ago.

"Well you were annoying… well not really you were just a… challenge" Rufus tried to explain. "You were the only person who stood up to me with out cowering with fear while insulting me. I saw you as someone who needed to be dealt with"

"Ah I see" Tifa gave a slow nod. "Tifa?" "Yeah"

"Why do you like me?" Rufus looked down at her.

"I really don't know" Tifa laughed, Rufus frowned. "No, no it's nothing bad I just don't know"

"Oh okay" He accepted her answer. Tifa felt like a kindergartener asking these types of questions but she didn't care.

"Why do you like me?" She asked and rested her head against his chest.

"because I over came my challenge. Once you and I were in that cabin we were even and I guess I started to notice all your good qualities." Rufus shrugged.  
"How many do I have?" Tifa giggled.

"Not many" Rufus smirked and she kicked him lightly.

"You better be kidding," She warned.

"Lets put it this way. You have as many good qualities as I do" Rufus told her.

"Uh oh. That's not a lot then" Tifa laughed, it was Rufus's turn to look offended.

"Brat" He hissed playfully.

"Jerk"

"Brat"

"Meanie"

"Brat"

"You're the brat" "No you are"

"Nuh Uh" Tifa looked up at him and laughed. "What are we like two"

"I guess so" He chuckled. Tifa leaned up and kissed him softly.

"Cutie" She winked and ran back to her cabin.

"I am not cute!" He called after her as quietly as he could.

* * *

Tifa woke up after breakfast once again. This time Yuffie was shaking her awake. Tifa slowly got up and got dressed. She looked out the window and blinked. It was pouring rain. When she looked over at Yuffie she found that everyone was standing around and yawning. Aerith, Yuffie and Elena were all there.

"Am I late again?" Tifa asked.

"Nope. Today's an indoor day since it's raining so much." Elena told her.

"Ah okay" Tifa said while combing out her hair. She was ready in no time. That was one of the skills that came with sleeping in, you had to be able to get ready faster then everyone else. "Lets go to the dining room.

We can meet to boys there," Aerith suggested.

"Okay" Tifa agreed. They headed out the door and ran across the field. The girls giggled as they ran in the rain.

"Hair wash anyone?" Yuffie laughed. They pushed open the doors and stepped into the dinning room. Tifa shook all the raindrops from her sweater and jeans. Aerith shook the rain from her hair.

"Man that was wet. I get why they can't do anything" Yuffie shivered.

"I bet the canoes are filled with water by now" Aerith thought out loud.

"Maybe" Tifa said looking out the windows, but she couldn't see anything. Cloud, Vincent and Zack were all sitting around playing cards.

"Bet Zack and Cloud are playing for you" Tifa nudged Aerith.

"Yeah right" Aerith rolled her eyes. They walked over to join them.

"Hey guys" Yuffie greeted and sat down beside Vincent.

"Hey ladies" Cloud smirked at their wet appearance, "Have fun outside"

"Yup" Tifa smiled.

"Come join us" Zack offered.

"What game?" Aerith asked taking a seat between him and Cloud. Tifa sat down beside Yuffie.

"Go Fish" Cloud told her.

"Ah great fun" Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"It kills time" Vincent shrugged.

"Got any fours?"

* * *

Tifa was back in bed before she knew it. It was the dullest day of camp so far and they would be leaving tomorrow. Since the rain was going to continue the trip was cut short. Tifa didn't mind though, she'd had her fun and was ready to return to the city. She lay in her sleeping bag and looked up at the bunk Aerith was sleeping on.

"Lets play truth or dare" Yuffie bounced up and looked down at Tifa.

"Okay but since it's raining we'll have to stick to truth" Aerith said.

"But that's no fun" Tifa leaned out over her bed and looked up at Aerith who was looking down at her.

"Then we have to think of another game" Yuffie sighed.

"How about going swimming?" Tifa suggested.

"What? Now?" Aerith gasped.

"That's not a game!" Yuffie commented in the middle.

"No at 4 am" Tifa said, "It'll be fun, no one will catch us"

"I think we should do it" Yuffie agreed.

"No way what if we get in trouble," Aerith snapped.

"We wooont" Tifa whined.

"Can I come?" Elena asked over from her bed. Tifa had to look at her in an upside down view since she had moved and was hanging her head back over the bed.

"Sure" She agreed.

"Aerith, what'dya say?" Yuffie asked.

"Fine, but we better not get in trouble" She reluctantly agreed.

"Okay we'll wake up at 4 and go" Tifa giggled. Aerith grumbled something about having rotten friends and rolled over and went to sleep.

* * *

At 4 am Tifa woke everyone up. She had no problem waking up at this hour for some reason. She got changed into her bikini and waited for the others. She looked out the window and watched Mr. V and Mrs. Steff do their last round. She knew they'd still have to be quiet but they were safe from teachers for now.

The four girls ran out of the cabin and across the grass. They made it down to the beach in no time. Though the beach was close it was still a bit of a run. Tifa looked at the quiet lake.

"Look how still it is" Yuffie commented before walking in and ruining it.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this" Aerith sighed; she hated breaking rules but walked into the water anyways. Tifa and Elena followed after her. Tifa swam out a bit so she couldn't touch. She floated around for a while before heading back to where she could touch the bottom. The rain was still poring but no one cared. It made the water warmer. "This is so nice!" Yuffie grinned. She floated around in the water. "So much better then those hikes.

"To bad we're leaving tomorrow" Elena commented.

"Yeah I had fun here, but I want to get back and shop for grad dresses" Aerith smiled brightly at the thought of shopping.

"So do I" Tifa agreed.

"I don't care about dresses but I want to get back to the city," Yuffie giggled. Tifa swam over to the dock and rested her arm on it. Aerith did the same. "Do you think there's sharks in this water and that's why they don't let us go swimming" Aerith looked around. Tifa laughed.

"Nope, they're too scared of the alligators to come here" Tifa informed her with such authority Aerith believed her.

"What!" Aerith's mouth dropped open.

"Geez, I was just kidding" Tifa laughed, Aerith let out a breath. Yuffie stood up in the water.

"They don't let us go swimming because we have these" Yuffie snapped Elena's bikini strap. "And we have these" Yuffie shook her chest. They burst out laughing.  
"Haha, yeah I guess that would be the reason," Aerith laughed.

"Yuffie that was priceless" Elena giggled. See the tomboy act like that was a rare site. "What?" Yuffie blushed and laughed. The laughter stopped when Aerith pointed out someone out in the distance. They all turned and looked. There was two of them. There was no way that could be teachers, Tifa was so sure they'd all be asleep. They were two boys. Yuffie squinted.

"Lets hide behind the dock" Aerith suggested. They swam to the end of the dock and ducked down in the water as far as possible.

"I don't see anyone here," One of them said.

"Hey wait there's shoes"

"They look like Yuffie's shoes" Yuffie's eyes widened.

"And those are defiantly Tifa's boots and Aerith's runners. They're here aren't they"

"Hey girls you can come out" Busted. They emerged from the end of the dock and were surprised to find Cloud and Vincent standing there.

"Man are we lucky it's just you guys" Aerith sighed in relief.

"Next time you want to sneak out make sure you don't leave your shoes lying around" Cloud warned. "We've been doing this since day one and we never wear shoes"

"Well aren't you clever" Elena smirked. Vincent and Cloud waded into the water.

"We can make as much noise as we want. Teachers are to tired to get us anyways" Vincent splashed Yuffie. Yuffie splashed him back.

"We were enjoying the peace and quiet so lets keep it that way" She smiled. Vincent wrapped his arms around her and dragged her threw the water. Yuffie giggled and smiled brightly.  
Tifa floated on her back for a while. She moved her arms slowly to propel her around the lake. It was hard to look up since the rain was still pouring down. Tifa returned to her feet.

"How about a mercy fight?" Elena challenged. "Your on" Tifa smirked. "I call Cloud" Cloud swam over to her and bowed down to let Tifa on his shoulders. Elena jumped on Vincent's back and the game was on! Tifa and Elena locked arms. Tifa was pulled forward and she almost lost her balance. She soon regained it and pushed Elena back. Cloud tried to trip Vincent but failed. Tifa pulled Elena forward but when she did Elena pushed her back. Tifa lost her balance and fell off. She popped up from the water and laughed.

"I'm next" Yuffie jumped up on Vincent's shoulders after Elena jumped off. Aerith jumped onto Cloud's shoulders. Yuffie and Aerith locked hands. They stared each other down for a long time before Yuffie pulled Aerith forward. Aerith yelped and fell off of Cloud's shoulders.

"I've never been good at these things," Aerith laughed.

"I'm tired." Yuffie yawned. "Let's head back"

"Yeah okay" Aerith nodded. Yuffie hugged Vincent and the four girls walked back to their cabins. They took turns using the washroom to get changed. Tifa towel dried her long hair. She put on her pjs and jumped into bed.

"That was fun," Aerith giggled.

"Sure was" Yuffie grinned.

"Good night guys" Tifa said.

"Good night"

"Night"

"Sleep tight"

* * *

The bus ride back to the city was no more fun then the one there. Aerith was more entertained since Zack was sitting with her. Yuffie was temporary mad at Vincent and so she wasn't talking to him. Tifa stared out the window once again. Rufus and his friends were sitting in front of her. Reno was being more then annoying and childish. Rufus would throw her the occasional sneaky look but said nothing.  
The bus pulled to a halt in front of the school. Tifa checked her watch. It was 3 o clock. Perfect. They could go home right away! Tifa pushed her way past Rufus. He pushed past Aerith and ended up behind her. Tifa felt a note slip into her hand. Tifa made her way down the stairs. "Move it Lockhart" Rufus pushed her lightly. Tifa stumbled forward and into Vincent's grasp.

"Jerk" Tifa muttered. Rufus flipped his hair and walked away. "Geez, what a jerk" Aerith rolled her eyes. She grabbed her bag. Yuffie and Tifa grabbed theirs.

"See you guys tomorrow" Tifa waved and headed to 7th Heaven. She hated not having time to talk to her friends after school. Tifa opened the note.

_Tifa,_

_I'll send a crew to move your stuff. It'll be in the house by 8. Since you've won my bedroom you'll be staying in room 8045 on the 75th floor. See you then._

_-Rufus_

Tifa smiled, she was actually going to live in his room! Tifa entered the bar smiling and found the manager. She talked about not working on the quieter days. He accepted. Tifa enjoyed the rest of her workday. Reno wasn't there today. She figured he was resting from the trip. Tifa had a slow day. She was lucky since her mind was on other things. She wondered what it'd be like living at ShinRa. She wasn't at all sure but she couldn't wait.

Tifa rushed out the door when her shift was over. She ran to her house first. It was totally empty. Tifa looked around and said good-bye to it. She rushed as fast as her legs would carry her to the ShinRa building. Tifa walked inside and looked around. She was stunned. It was huge! And very shinny. The place reeked of professionalism. Tifa felt out of place.

She walked into the elevators and press the '75' button. She looked out the glass elevator and sighed. The city was so pretty. Tifa had things she had to do. One, write a letter to her mom about the location change. Two, thank Rufus. Three run around the ShinRa building in joy. Tifa stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall. 8040… 8042… 8045… bingo! Tifa almost walked right past it. She opened the door and gashed. It was huge! The size of her old house! Tifa dropped her backpack on the floor and stepped onto the soft carpet. Tifa looked around.

Her bed and everything was here. There was a door that she assumed was the bathroom or her mom's room. Tifa walked over to her bed and jumped back. She giggled like a little girl and rolled off. Tifa opened the door and sure enough her mom's bed that was only slept in once a year for one day was there. Tifa walked over to another door. When she opened it she gasped. It was a closet that was the size of her old bedroom. Her clothes barley took up any space.

Tifa closed the door and went to another one. This one was the bathroom. It was also huge. Tifa smirked, she was so happy she won this bet. Tifa twirled around her room and bumped into something fleshy. Tifa stumbled a bit and tuned to face none other then Rufus. Tifa giggled.

"I take it your happy" Rufus said, his usual solid expression remaining. During camp he had smirked and grinned and even smiled but the minute he hit the city he changed.

"Yup" Tifa smiled. She still felt timid around him. The urge to hug him would nag her until she did so. Rufus watched her amused; she looked to the side, then at him, then to the ground. He knew she would do something eventually so he just reminded quite. Tifa stepped forward quickly and her arms flew around his waist. She rested her head on his chest and squeezed him tight. Rufus was a little shocked. No one ever hugged him. "Thank you" She sighed into his chest. Rufus moved his arms around her and closed his eyes. He enjoyed the feeling of her body against his.

"No problem" Rufus's eyes opened when he felt her body shake. He looked down at her puzzled. Tears were falling from her whine coloured eyes. "What's wrong" Something inside Rufus ached to see her cry.

"I... I'm just so happy" Tifa sniffed and wiped her eyes. Rufus looked at her with gentle eyes. "I'm happy you're happy. Now you must meet my father. He knows of your arrival and would like to see who exactly it is I've rented my room to" Rufus took her hand and lead her to the elevator. Rufus could have pulled his trick of staying in the room and making Tifa move out but he decided she needed this. His current room was only one foot smaller then his old on so he could care less. Tifa fixed her hair with her free hand. They stepped into the elevator. Rufus pressed the '78' button. His dad had his main office on highest floor. Rufus figured it made him feel powerful. Tifa looked out at the city again. This time her eyes traveled down to the city below. Tifa felt the breath being sucked out of her as she realized how high up they were. She backed away as far as she could before she bumped into Rufus. Rufus smirked, he could see she was scared and it amused him. He slowly ran his hands up her arms and placed them on her shoulder. Tifa's body shivered as he leaned his head down by her neck. She could feel his hot breath near her ear giving her goosebumps.

"You know you could fall if I pushed you" Rufus threatened. He wouldn't! Tifa's mind raced. What if he did? Tifa stiffened and Rufus smirked. He pushed her forward. Tifa's eyes widened as she fell. Since the elevators were glass it really did look like she was going to plummet to the city below her. He pulled her back into his grasp and held her tight against him. Tifa let out a breath. Her scared eyes turned to angry ones and she turned in his arms.

"You jerk!" Tifa snapped.

"What? Nothing would have happened. We're surrounded by glass" Rufus tapped it to prove his point. Tifa rolled her eyes.

"That was still mean" She huffed. The doors opened and she stormed out. Rufus followed after her. He shrugged, he knew she was annoyed but she'd get over it. He learned all his mean tricks from his dad, not his fault right? Tifa stopped and waited for him since she had no clue where to go. The elevator open into his office but it was so huge he could be anywhere in it. Rufus led her to his desk far off in the corner. It was huge and made of glass that could barely be seen with all the papers scattered on it.

"Father?" Rufus announced his presences. Mr. Shinra looked up form his desk. His cold stare traveled from Rufus to Tifa and then back to Rufus. His father said nothing. Rufus knew this was his sign to continue talking. "This is Tifa Lockhart. The girl from the slums who's coming to stay with us" Tifa frowned at his mention of the slums. She was hoping she could leave that part out while staying here. Mr. Shinra stood up and walked over to Tifa. He walked in a sharp circle around her. His eyes moving up and down over her. He was inspecting her. It was Rufus' turn to frown. He hated it when his father did that. Tifa's approval should not be left to him alone.

"Fine" Mr. Shinra sat back down. "Now get out" Rufus turned left, Tifa following after him. Rufus sighed and left to go to his room. Tifa looked after him but he said nothing to her when he noticed her stare. Shutting the door he muttered a quick "good night." Tifa went to her room and sat down at her desk. She took out a pen and paper and started the letter to her mother.

_Dearest Mother,_

_I'm writing to inform you that Rufus Shinra has taken me in and given me a room. He's not charging me anything for it. Though I still have to buy my own clothes it does lessen our expenses a lot. I've stopped working 7 days a week and am now only working 5. Hope to see you soon._

_- Tifa_

Tifa scribbled their new address at the bottom and folded it. She slid it inside an envelope and licked it shut. Tifa cringed at the taste. She shoved it down a slot in her room labelled mail.' Tifa thought it was convenient to have such a thing.

She looked out the window into the darkness. Though it wasn't that late she was super tired. She decided to get changed. Tifa slipped into her pjs and hopped into bed. She was out as soon as she closed her eyes. The feeling of relaxation sweeping over her.

* * *

That's chapter 4 for ya. Now off to do chpt. 5!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey dudes and dudetts. It's chapter 5! I quickly finished it before I rushed off to Denmark for 4 weeks. And now I'm gone so I don't think I'll be updating for at least 5ish weeks but I'll try to write a little bit there. Bye! Thanks so much for all the great comments so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

Tifa awoke the next morning find herself in a new room. At first she panicked but soon remembered that she was now living at the ShinRa mansion in Rufus' old room. Tifa sat up and smoothed out her messy hair. She smiled when she realized it was Saturday. Today was the day her was going to go prom dress shopping with Aeris and Yuffie. She hopped out of bed and skipped to the bathroom.

Tifa slipped into a black tank top and jeans. She put her jeans jacket on over her outfit and bounced out the door… smack into Rufus. Tifa wobbled backwards.

"Sorry!" She grinned and Rufus smirked. "Watch it" He commented and kept walking. Tifa checked her watch. It was already 10 am that meant Yuffie and Aeris were already waiting for her. Tifa bounded out the door and down the streets of Sector One. None of the girls were rich but they had been saving for a long time and hoped they could find a sale that would allow them to buy a nice dress. Tifa smiled as she approached them.

"Sorry I slept in" Yuffie and Aeris turned in surprise as Tifa came up behind them. They were so use to see her running from the other direction.

"Figures" Aerith gave her an 'I knew it' look. Tifa smiled sheepishly. "So how was your night in the ShinRa mansion?" Yuffie asked.

"Good" Tifa bounced up and down, "My bed is huge"

"Awesome!" Aerith smiled.

"You guys should come over tonight and see it." Tifa suggested.

"Sounds great" Yuffie agreed.

"What time?" Aerith asked.

"Seven" Tifa told them. The two girls nodded. "Great! Lets get shopping" Yuffie and Aerith were more then happy to begin their shopping trip. The first store they visited was called 'Dresses Galore' which Yuffie thought was a super weird name. They entered and Yuffie instantly ran towards the racks. These dresses were very toned down and she adored them. Aerith and Tifa didn't have Yuffie's luck when it came to this store. Tifa only found one dress she liked and Aerith found none.

Tifa and Yuffie entered the dressing room. Tifa came out the same time as Yuffie. Tifa was wearing a black dress with pink stitching. Yuffie was wearing a forest green dress that tightly hugged her curves and made her shoulders pop out like wow!

"Oh my gosh Yuff that's perfect!" Aerith's eye widened and she rose from the chair she was sitting in. Yuffie looked at herself in the mirror.

"I like it" Yuffie spun around.

"Its soooooo pretty!" Tifa squealed.

"I can't believe you were so lucky on your first try." Aerith was in awe still at the dress. Tifa looked at hers. She didn't like it. She had only tried it on for the sake of getting into shopping mode. She retreated into the change room and got back into her old clothing. When she returned outside Yuffie was still admiring herself in the mirror.

"Are you sure I should go with the first one?' Yuffie was sceptical.

"Defiantly! This is like THE dress" Tifa reassured her.

"Okay" Yuffie smiled and disappeared into the change room. Tifa pulled Aerith back into the main part of the store.

"Lets look for accessories for her" Tifa said and pulled out a matching shawl.

"Oooooo good idea" Aerith ran to another shelf. Aerith dug deep into the trunk of strange items found at the back. "Tifa look at this!" Aerith waved her friend over.

"What is it?" Tifa asked as she approached the excited girl.

"Look" Aerith held up two lightweight hairpins. The same ones Yuffie wore in her hair but these ones were covers this diamonds. Tifa's eyes widened.

"It's perfect! It'll be our gift to her," Tifa said keeping her voice quiet.

"Awesome!" Aerith whispered excitedly. They bought the shawl and clips. Yuffie emerged from the changing room and paid for the dress. After they got outside she finally noticed the bag Tifa was holding.

"What's that?'" Yuffie asked.

"We got a shawl to match" Aerith smiled, she fished her hand into the bag and took it out. "You owe me 10 bucks" Yuffie smirked and handed over the cash.

"Thanks guys" She bounced and continued to do so down the street. Tifa and Aerith followed after her. They soon reached another store. Tifa knew she was going to like it in here. It was called 'Alternatives' and the dresses were all very different. Tifa headed to the racks; this time it was Yuffie's turn to walk around. Aerith was looking but she wasn't finding anything here either. She sighed with frustration. Having given up on this store she went searching for Tifa's gift. Yuffie joined Tifa at the racks.

"Find anything good" Yuffie asked peering at what Tifa had in her hands.

"Yeah a couple really cool ones." Tifa smiled.

"Oh I forgot to ask" Yuffie snapped her fingers as she remembered something, "How's life with Rufus?" Aerith who was near them and not one to miss out on any good gossip ran over to join in.

"Fine, I've only been there a day so nothing much has happened" Tifa shrugged.

"Come on there has to be more then that!" Yuffie pressured her.

"Well, I met his dad and he just kinda stared at me" Tifa told them, "Then this morning I smacked into him again while I was running to meet you guys"

"What did he say to that?" Aerith asked.

"Nothing, surprisingly enough" Tifa laughed. Yuffie and Aerith's face sunk.

"No big fights"

"No secret romance"

"Noooope" Tifa sang as she moved to the next section of dresses. Aerith and Yuffie shrugged and went back to what they were doing before. Tifa headed to the changing room. She tried on her first dress. She didn't like it, plus it was black and she was trying to stay away from that. Tifa headed back into the dressing room and tried on the second dress. This time Yuffie and Aerith joined her at the mirror. They agreed with her when she said the bright pink dress was just "okay"

"That's defiantly the one!" Aerith gasped in amazement when Tifa emerged in the final dress she had found. Tifa was wearing a dark blue strapless dress. The top half was very close to a corset but much less bulky. It held her waist accenting its beautiful shape. Black belt like straps wrapped around her waist and the rest of the dress naturally flowed around her.

"I like it!" Tifa smiled. Yuffie agreed with Aerith.

"This is so the one!" Yuffie smiled brightly. Tifa disappeared back into the changing room and Aerith pulled Yuffie to the other end of the store.

"Look what I found!" Aerith gave her a cunning look. Aerith held up a very nice pair of shoes. They were like boots but had a kick to them that made them wearable on fancy occasions.

"Wow those are perfect for Tifa" Yuffie grabbed them and took them to the counter. Yuffie and Aerith had shoes already but Tifa did not. Tifa came out of the dressing room and grabbed a blue shawl to go with her dress. Tifa's shawl was made of gritty material while Yuffie's was made of fine silk.

Aerith stuffed Tifa's item in with Yuffie's as Tifa paid. The girls headed back out side again. Across the road was a store that was perfect for Aerith. She had her heart set on a pretty pink puffy princess dress. They entered the store called 'Cinderella Shop' and Aerith's face brightened up while Tifa and Yuffie shielded their eyes from the mass amount of pink.

Aerith was totally engrossed in the dresses so Tifa decided to make a break for it to look for Aerith's gift. Yuffie came along with her. They searched the shelves to see what they could find. Tifa pulled down a pink ribbon covered with diamonds and another longer, thicker ribbon came with it.

"That's very pretty" Yuffie said eyeing the ribbons. "It'd be perfect for a necklace and for her hair"

"Yeah, I really like this" Tifa got excited.

"I'll go buy it" Yuffie bounced with happiness. Tifa blinked and her purse started ringing. She opened it up and took out a ringing cell phone.

"Hello?" Tifa asked half dazed by the new contraption that had magically appeared in her bag.

"Hey Tifa," Rufus greeted. "I see you've found your new cell phone"

"I guess I have" Tifa blinked.

"Well I just called to say, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cut your shopping trip short. Your mother is here to see you," He told her.

"What!" Tifa hissed, "I though she was"

"In Paris? Yeah she said she was but when she got your rush delivery letter she decided to come down and see you" Rufus said.

"Oh" Tifa frowned. "Okay I'll be back as fast as I can"

"Okay bye"

"Bye" Tifa clicked the phone off and looked at Yuffie who was staring at her in bewilderment.

"You have a cell phone?" Yuffie said putting Aerith's gift into her bag.

"You do?" Aerith popped out of the change room.

"Apparently so" Tifa was still confused.

"He gave you a cell phone!" Aerith giggled.

"So what did he say?' Yuffie asked.

"He said my mom is here to see me," Tifa informed them. Aerith and Yuffie's face dropped.

"Oh" They both said. "Yeah so I have to go" Tifa smiled meekly. "Sorry"

"That's okay, we got Aerith's dress" Yuffie pointed at Aerith who was wearing a beautiful dress with thick silk straps and diamonds lining the top part of it. It was pink and puffy, perfect for Aerith.

"Yeah that's defiantly the one" Tifa's face brightened. "Yeah so go, go, go" Aerith shooed her away.

"Bye!" Tifa ran out the door and down the streets of sector one. She ran into the ShinRa building and jumped into the elevator. She pressed the button that would take her to her floor. Tifa ran down the hall, slowing down just before she reached her room. She opened the door slowly to find her mom sitting on her bed.

"Hi Tifa" Her mother greeted her in a formal tone.

"Hi Mom" Tifa smiled. She put her bags down and gave her a hug.

"What did you buy?" Her mother got up and looked through Tifa's bag.

"A grad dress" Tifa smiled brightly.

"This is beautiful honey," She informed her.

"Thanks" Tifa was stepping on thin ice with each response. She knew her mother's mood could change just as fast as her own.

"Where did you get the money for this?" Ms. Lockhart asked. Here we go.

"I saved up all the money I earned working for a while and looked for sales while shopping" Tifa told her.

"Don't you think it would have been better spent on paying the rent instead of having the Shinra's take you in" Her mother looked at her coldly.

"I've been saving up for five years mom. I was still paying the rent" Tifa sighed.

"You could have used the money towards school" Ms. Lockhart snapped lightly, "I wouldn't have had to work so hard"

"I didn't think…" Tifa's eyes fell. Outside her room Rufus was listening closely. He wanted to protect her from everything and this was one of the things that he wanted to shield her from.

"Of course you didn't think. Your always out with your friends" Her mother snapped. "You never once think of me do you"

"Of course I do. I'm never out with my friends. I go to school and then I work for hours until I come home and do my homework and then sleep! I do it for you, I'm always thinking of you" Tifa fought back.

"Ever since your father died you've been acting out" Ms. Lockhart narrowed her eyes.

"Don't bring dad into this. It's hard enough not having him around without you making me feel like I've betrayed him somehow" Tifa snapped.

"How dare you!" her mother raised her hand and slapped it across her face. Tifa winched and sunk to the ground. She was so sick of this. Every time her mother came home it was fine for about two minutes until one thing was said that led to an argument that always ended with a red cheek.

"I'm sorry" Tifa said quietly.

"I'm leaving again Tifa. I'll be in Australia this time. More business conferences" Her mother started walking away. "I hope you're happy here"

"Bye" Was all Tifa said as her mother left the room.

After Tifa's mother left her room Rufus slipped inside. He walked over to her and looked down at her. Tifa stared at Rufus' feet not daring to meet his eyes. His hand came into her vision and she took it. He lifted her up and her looked at the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah" Tifa nodded slowly. Rufus trailed his finger along her jaw line and lifted her chin. Tifa tried to avoid his eyes but couldn't. She didn't want him to see how hurt she was. Tifa was surprised at the look he was giving her. Rufus looked so sympathetic and kind. Rufus removed the tears from her cheeks.

"Your face is too pretty to be tainted by such ugly tears," He told her. Tifa let a small smile cross her lips.

"Thank you" She sniffed and stopped crying. She whipped her eyes and straightened herself out. She looked up at Rufus again. She was really happy he was being so kind.

"Your sure you're okay?" He confirmed.

"Yes I'm fine." Tifa giggled. Rufus place his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him. Tifa fell softly into his chest and sighed. Rufus ran a gentle hand through her smooth hair. Tifa relaxed into him and she felt warm. Rufus lifted her chin once again and kissed her softly. Tifa deepened the kiss, feeling the need for him to be with her grow. Rufus ran his hands up her side and kissed her harder back. Tifa was enjoying his company too much too notice the clock had just turned seven.

* * *

Aerith walked into the ShinRa building cautiously. She still couldn't believe Tifa lived here now. Aerith stepped into the elevator. She pressed the '75' button as Tifa had told her too. Yuffie would be joining them soon. After they purchased her dress the two girls decided to head home quickly and put their stuff away. Aerith stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall. Ms. Lockhart stormed past her. Aerith stopped and watched as the woman got into the elevator and disappeared from sight. Aerith stood there and thought. Tifa was probably in bad shape after that. Aerith walked down the hall and found the open door that contained the number of Tifa's room. Aerith looked straight inside and what she saw shocked her. She clasped her hand over her mouth and backed away from the door. She ran back to the elevator and headed back down to the main floor.

Aerith burst out into the main floor and bumped smack into Yuffie. Yuffie got up and pulled her wide-eyed friend up.

"Aerith what is it?" Yuffie asked.

"Tifa and… and…" Aerith stuttered.

"What it can't be that big of a deal" Yuffie raised an eyebrow.

"Tifa and Rufus are kissing!" Aerith finally found her voice.

"What!" Yuffie gasped. "Are you sure you don't need glasses"

"No seriously, I saw her mom walking out of her room and I went to her room and right near the door way the two were together" Aerith said in one long breath in which her put words together that barely made any sense.

"Get out! No way! I can't believe this" Yuffie was in awe.

"How long do you think she's been keeping it from us?" Aerith asked.

"I have no clue, it could have been a one time thing now or it could be a forever thing starting now or it could have happened at camp or even before" Yuffie's mouth was going a mile a minute.

"This is huge!" Aerith exclaimed.

"I can't believe this" Yuffie paced around her friend in a circle.

"I know!" Aerith took a deep breath.

"She's with Rufus Shinra!" Yuffie flipped out.

"I know!" Aerith flipped out as well. "What do we do"

"I don't know" Yuffie said calming down again.

"We should just straight out confront her about it" Aerith decided.

"Ooooor we can tease her" Yuffie thought, "She kept it from us, she can pay for it. We'll hint about it and drive her crazy. We'll even drag him into it!" Yuffie bounced in excitement.

"Yeah!" Aerith and Yuffie skipped to the elevator and took off to Tifa's floor. They marched down the hall and through Tifa's door. Rufus was just leavening but they weren't about to let him. Yuffie and Aerith each put a hand on his chest and pushed him back into the room.

"Hey!" Rufus snapped lightly totally confused about what was going on.

"Hi Tifa" Yuffie purred and pushed Rufus towards her.

"Um hi?" Tifa was totally confused about the behaviour of her friends.

"We have a few questions to ask the two of you" Aerith said being very obvious she was up to something.

"So Rufus how do you take care of your guests?" Yuffie questioned.

"I put them in a room, they can take care of themselves" He told them, his expression remaining solid.

"So why were you in Tifa's room if Tifa could take care of herself" Aerith advanced slightly on him.

"She needed to be told something" Rufus lied.

"What was that?" Yuffie asked moving up beside Aerith.

"Just some rules, none of your concern" Rufus told them, unfazed by the marching girls headed in his direction.

"So you wouldn't like kiss them or anything?" Aerith took another step towards him. Rufus took one back. Tifa's eyes widened. They knew! Rufus had probably figured that out as well but was remaining more calmthen she was.

"No" Rufus shrugged.

"Alright then, tell me Rufus, what type of girls are you into?" Yuffie asked moving up beside Aerith once again.

"Nice girls" Rufus rolled his eyes at the ridiculous questions they were asking.

"Nice girls like Tifa?" Aerith advanced again.

"Yeah Tifa's a nice girl" Rufus said flatly.

"So you admit you like her!" Yuffie pointed a finger at him and moved beside Aerith again. They now pretty much had him backed into a corner now, literally.

"I never said that" Rufus crossed his arms over his chest as he took a step back into the wall.

"Would you kiss nice girls?" Aerith asked stepping forward once more.

"Yes"

"Nice girls like Tifa?" Yuffie said moving forward again. Tifa couldn't take this anymore. Her friends were being so stupid. They knew and they knew she knew they knew. Or something.

"Would you stop interrogating my boyfriend" Tifa snapped and quickly placed her hands over her mouth. Oops. Yuffie and Aerith's lips curled into wicked smiles.

"Ah ha!" They both said turning to her. "We knew it"

"Okay so you found out," Tifa sighed.

"Wow!" Yuffie danced, "It's actually true!" Rufus let his breath go and moved away from the wall.

"Can I go? All this girlyness is creeping me out" He rolled his eyes at Yuffie and Aerith who were dancing around happily.

"Yes, bye bye lover boy" Yuffie and Aerith blew him a kiss. Rufus' cheek turned bright red and he stormed out the door.

"You guys be nice" Tifa sighed.

"Fine we will" Aerith giggled. "So when did it happen?" Yuffie asked.

"In the cabin" Tifa admitted.

"No way!" Aerith jumped on her bed.

"Yeah, we had a bet and if I wont I had to kiss him and that kind of started things" Tifa blushed.

"Oh my gosh, that's so cool" Yuffie bounced around. "Yeah yeah" Tifa rolled her eyes and smiled warmly at her friends. She gave her friends no time to interrupt as she started to show them around her huge room. Yuffie wasted no time in jumping on the bed and Aerith hit the mini bar.

"This place is amassing Tifa" Yuffie smiled, "You really deserve it"

"Thanks, I know, I'm really lucky" Tifa grinned.

"Hey Tifa are you and your mom okay?" Aerith asked in a quiet voice.

"No but what else is new" Tifa shrugged as if it was no big deal. Yuffie bounced over to Tifa's piano and sat down. She started playing random keys and making horrible sounds. Tifa giggled and shoved her friend over with her hip as she sat down.

"Any requests?" Tifa asked. Aerith thought for a moment and a huge smile crossed her face. "Hit me baby one more time!" Aerith squealed.

"Noooo!" Yuffie sighed" Tifa grinned, the girls hated Brittany Spears but like the Back streets boys her songs were easy to sing to and so this was their favourite type of music to sing to. Tifa started the intro with skilled fingers moving over the keys. She rapidly played wither precision and Aerith got ready to sing.

"Oh baby, baby. How was I supposed to know" Aerith picked up a hairbrush to use as a microphone. She held it over to Yuffie who in a grunting tone continued. "That something wasn't right here. Oh baby, baby"  
Aerith looked at Tifa for the next line and in a loud voice her belted out "I shouldn't have let you gooooooo. And now you're out of sight, yeeeeah!" Aerith started dancing around the room while singing on. Yuffie grinned brightly and finally got into it as she always did.

"Show me how want it to be" Aerith sung and Yuffie joined her in the next line "Tell me baby 'cause I need to know now, oh because" Tifa took over the course by herself.

"My loneliness is killing me" Tifa sung and in the back ground Aerith and Yuffie added a "And I!" "I must confess I still believe" Tifa giggled as she sang. Yuffie and Aerith added a high pitched "Still believe" after her. The three girls sang together with huge smiles "When I'm not with you I lose my miiiiiiiiinnnnnndddddddd!" Yuffie and Aerith pranced around Tifa's room dancing to the beat as Tifa played. "Give me a sign. Hit me

baby one more time!" They finished the first chores together. Tifa giggled and kept playing. Before Tifa could continue Rufus interrupted.

"Ahem…" He announced his presence. Tifa's fingers falter on the keys in shock. She whirled around to face the door. Yuffie and Aerith who had preciously been dancing stopped and turned beat red. Rufus had the hugest smirk on his face. As Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa all exchanged glances. They all knew they were thinking the same thing. 'How long had he been standing there'

"What is it Rufus?" Tifa asked.

"The maid wants to know if you guys want desert" Rufus rolled his eyes. In truth the maid hadn't sent him, like he would ever listen to "the help." He just wanted to get on Tifa's friends good side since he did care a lot about her. He had wondered to her room when he saw Tifa singing loudly and Yuffie and Aerith backing her up. This moment was to priceless for him to ruin just yet so he waited to stop them.

"Sure" Tifa stood up and walked towards him.

"Foooood!" Yuffie bounced after her. Aerith smirked and came along as well. The girls followed him down the halls and around many twists and turns before they reached the kitchen. There were no maids around which made Tifa suspicious. Rufus opened the extremely large, shiny fridge and pulled out a huge chocolate cake. Yuffie's mouth dropped open at the sight. Aerith giggled at the look on her friend's face.  
Rufus cut each of the girls a peace and they sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Yuffie admired the piece of cake with the same appreciation Aerith had for art. Tifa looked over at Rufus and he was staring back. She gave him a sheepish smile and looked down at the table. Rufus smirked inwardly at her cuteness.

"You bought that dress right Aerith?" Tifa started talking.

"Yeah it was so pretty" Aerith smiled.

"It was perfect for you" Yuffie laughed lightly.

"I can't wait till grad" Aerith commented.

"I know! It'll be great" Tifa said.

"Meh who cares" Yuffie shrugged.

"Only every girl who's every existed" Aerith rolled her eyes.

"With you being the exception of course" Tifa smiled and Yuffie looked proud of that fact.

"I'll make her excited by the end of the year, just you wait" Aerith warned.

"Yeah right" Yuffie snapped softly as her. Tifa looked over at Rufus and he was staring at them with wide-eyed fascination. Tifa was sure he had no idea that look was on his face. Aerith stopped talking and looked at him. So did Yuffie. All three girls saw his look and at the same time exclaimed "What"

Rufus nearly jumped out of his chair and shook his head. His same solid expression returned and he waited to speak.

"You guys are like an episode of Gilmore Girls…. God do you ever shut up!" He said bluntly. Tifa looked at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter. Aerith and Yuffie soon did that same. Once they gained control of their fits and caught their breath Tifa spoke.

"Rufus I don't know what's more funny about that, the fact that you think so or the fact that you watch Gilmore Girls!" Tifa laughed once again.

"I don't… just once when nothing was on…. and only for 3 minutes but there was a lot of talking!" Rufus snapped in defence. "What? You don't talk with your friends?" Yuffie gave him a puzzled look.

"Not like that I don't" Rufus shrugged. His friends never talked about much more then school or business and getting geeks. Elena and Reno talked lots but when he came they never said much. Rufus looked like he had entered a deep train of thought so Tifa gave Aerith and Yuffie a 'be quiet' look. Her friend understood and ate the rest of their cake in silence.

Tifa waved good-bye to her friends as they left. Rufus was standing in the shadows behind her. Once she tuned back to go to the elevator he stepped out and put his arm around her waist. She sighed and entered the elevator.

"I'm so tired" Tifa leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Me too" He kissed her forehead and left her side as she went to her room.

"Good night" She smiled sweetly at him.

"Night" He waved slightly.

* * *

It was once again time for school. Tifa's Sunday had flown by with work and homework and little contact with Rufus. Aerith had called her twice but nothing more had happened. Already bogged down with homework,

Tifa sat in the cafeteria with her friends. They were chatting and laughing but something was wrong. Yuffie and Aerith had told everyone about Tifa and Rufus. Cloud and Vincent had freaked out but were now clam and accepting. Tifa looked over at Cloud. He was so quiet and looked very troubled. Tifa kicked him under the table.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked, her features forming a concerned look.

"Um…" Cloud looked around at all his friends. They notice he was talking and turned their attention to him. "What wrong Cloud?" Yuffie asked.

"Well…" He started slowly. "I was taking to my mom yesterday and she told me that she got a job back in our home time. It's a really good job and it'll make life easier for all of us"

"But?" Aerith asked.

"We have to move."


	6. Chapter 6

Wooow it's been a long time. I'm starting University now you know ? it'll be fun but super scary. I don't wanna to end this one and my other one but I feel I have to. It's not fair to leave you guys hanging and so ending is for the best. I kind of just realized that they probably didn't have Australia or Brittany Spears in FF VII but that's okie! It make the story relevant to us. Hehe.

* * *

"You're moving away from us?" Yuffie asked with a confused tone.

"Yeah, mom thinks it will be a better life for us" Cloud nodded his head solemnly.

"How far away is it?" Tifa asked, trying to remain clam and strong for her friend.

"About day away" Cloud informed them, "I can still come and visit you guys but I won't be finishing high school with you guys"

"Oh no! That's horrible" Aerith sighed and shook her head lightly.

"You can't even stay for the grad party?" Tifa asked. It was only a week away now. Her high school years were coming to a fast end. The whole experience had just flown buy. At least she had her dress?

"No, I've know for a while now, that this was going to happen, but I've been too hesitant to tell you guys. I know it was wrong of me to keep it from you but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything" Cloud told them quietly. "I'll be leaving in a couple days"

"That's so soon" Vincent said gruffly in utter disappointment. As if to destroy all meaningful conversation and comprehension, the lunch bell rang with its usual high pitch. No one said anything; no one could really find any words. The group left quietly from lunch without saying another word to each other. Tifa walked forward to her next class. Her back was turned to Cloud, as he was heading in the other direction. She walked away from him. She was leaving him now just as he would be leaving her forever.

* * *

Tifa lay on her bed in her ShinRa apartment. She had been there for a while now. There was something lacking in her body that was making it impossible for her to move an inch. She seemed to be numb with pain. She chest felt tight, like no deep breath would help lift the heaviness that currently weighed on it. The phone rang and she rolled over and answered. It was her first movement since she had planted herself on her bed after school.

"Hello?" She answered the ringing device.

"Hi Tifa" Aerith's voice sounded on the other end.

"Hey, what's up? Tifa wasn't sure what else to say at the moment.

"Not much… You?" Aerith was very aware of how lame their conversation was sounding.

"Same" Tifa answered. She remained quiet after that. After a moment of silence both Aerith and Tifa spoke at the same time.

"How are y-"

"What do y-"

Both girls giggle slightly and Tifa stayed quiet while Aerith repeated what she was intending to say.

"What do you think about Cloud moving away?" Her question was lame but at the same time it was something that could start a discussion.

"It's sad, of course" Tifa started, "He's been around since… well, forever"

"I know, I feel like I should have treated him better" Aerith let out a sigh.

"It's not like he's dead!" Tifa shook her head and laughed slightly.

"We'll see him again, it's not that. It just, well, sucks!" Tifa couldn't find a more articulate way of expressing what she was feeling.

"I know" Aerith agreed solemnly.

"I feel like we should do something for him. Like a fun good bye party" Tifa smiled at the idea.

"Lets go out for pizza tomorrow after school, okay?" Aerith made a forced suggestion, as she usually did.

"Sounds good" Tifa nodded though Aerith couldn't see.

"I'll see you tomorrow"

"Yeah, see ya" The phone clicked and the dial tone followed. Tifa laid back on her bed and sighed. She only had a brief moment's peace before Rufus called her for dinner. Tifa rose to her feet and zombied to the dinning hall.

* * *

Tifa sat down in her usual chair and waited to be served. She had started eating dinner with Rufus more often. They had a separate dinner from his dad since they both knew that putting Tifa in the same room as him would be a bad idea.

Rufus looked over at her with concerned eyes. He could tell something was bothering her. Her eyes were slightly red from crying and Rufus didn't know why. He wasn't sure if he should pry into what was wrong or if he should just leave her alone.

"Tifa?" Rufus spoke up to break the silence between them.

"Yeah?" Tifa raised her head to meet his gaze.

"Is something wrong, my darling?" Rufus asked her in his most charming voice. The rich, caring tone of his tone sent shivering up Tifa's spine.

"Cloud is moving away" Tifa told him bluntly.

"Oh, that's too bad" Rufus frowned. Not that he had even cared for the spiky blonde child, he knew that Tifa did and he cared about Tifa's feelings.

"Yeah" Tifa gave a single nod.

"Where is he moving to?" Rufus wanted to know.

"To Niebby, it's an hour or so away" Tifa told him, using the nickname she had given her home when she was very young.

"Oh, that's not extremely far away" Rufus told her.

"I know, but it is sad for me, that he won't be graduating with us" Tifa told him in a solid but neutral voice.

"Yes, that is shame but don't worry about not seeing him. I'm taking care of you now and I can easily have you and your friends there in less then an hour" Rufus told her.

"Thank you" Tifa smiled lightly.

* * *

Vincent, Tifa, Yuffie, Cloud, Aerith and Tifa all stood outside the front doors of school. They were ready to leave and have pizza. It was the end of the day and school was over. Everyone had their books, they had all checked several times. No one had to use the washroom. Everyone was wearing comfortable running shoes. And yet everyone was frozen.

"Okay! Sooooo let's get moving" Yuffie started walking stiffly forward. The others followed after her. Tifa let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She silently thanked Yuffie for starting the movement. They had to get the pizza place eventually, it was inevitable but if you didn't start walking you would never get there, right? Tifa knew all her friends were thinking the same thing; once they got to the pizza place the goodbyes and sadness would start.

Tifa walked bravely forward trying her best to act normal in front of Cloud. She knew it would only make everything worse if she was walking in a depressed manner. Aerith and Tifa exchanged a glance; Aerith was thinking the same thing as well.

They arrived at 'Slum's Slice' and went inside. Cloud got to pick the booth they were going to sit in; he had a favorite for some odd reason. Everyone slide into their spots and instantly picked up a menu. Within five minutes the scapegoat was gone since everyone knew what they wanted. Tifa sat back and folded her arms.

"Cloud! You are not graduating with us and it sucks but you are not dead and Rufus already said he would fly all of us down to see you so no worries!" Tifa spoke up, trying to be optimistic.

"Yeah I know" Cloud gave a strong nod, "I will see you guys again but it's still sad"

"Of course" Tifa agreed. A waitress came by to take their orders. Once everything was written down she left to get them water. "I bet Rufus would lend you the ShinRA mansion" Tifa laughed and everyone laughed with her.

"That would be awesome" Cloud chuckled, "But nah, my mom's pretty happy with what she got" As Cloud was talking the waitress returned with their waters.

"You could hook up a big screen TV and everything" Vincent went off reminiscing about it.

"Silly boy" Yuffie smiled fondly at him.

"What did your mom end up buying?" Vincent asked.

"We got so lucky, we got the house that I grew up in. There was a couple for sale in the area and it happened to be one of them!" Cloud had excitement in his voice now. Tifa enjoyed hearing it. She knew how much Cloud had cherished that house when he was living in it. He was more sad to leave it then then he was leaving them now. Tifa smiled lightly at the thought.

"What's funny Tif?" Cloud asked her.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how much you love that house" Tifa told him.

"Yeah, I really do love it" Cloud had a very happy grin on his face as he said so.

"ZOMG! Pizza!!" Yuffie cheered when the food arrived.

"It's just pizza Yuffie…." Vincent gave her a leveling 'why-did-I-ever-go-out-with-you' look.

"But I haven't had pizza in SO long" Yuffie defended her excited actions. The minuet the pizza was set down in front of her, Yuffie started wolfing it down.

"Remember to breath" Aerith commented and just shook her head in amusement.

"What time are you leaving tomorrow, Cloud?" Vincent asked.

"Early in the morning. Around 6 am" Cloud informed him.

"I guess tonight's it then." Tifa frowned again.

"I'll be there in the morning to say good-bye" Vincent gave a small smirk, "I don't mind getting up early unlike the rest of you" He gave them disapproving glares. "What ever!" Yuffie said with a mouth full of pizza. Tifa looked at Cloud; he looked very pleased that his friend would be coming to see him off in the morning.

"Are you going to eat that?" Yuffie said, already starting on Aerith's pizza.

"Yes! Yuffie!" Aerith scolded.

"You've never been this intense about food before Yuffie" Cloud commented.

"I'm in a mood!" Yuffie explained between bites. The group just lightly smiled and ate their own food.

"See you in the morning" Vincent put his hand up as a gesture of good-bye. Yuffie tearfully hugged Cloud.

"You'll miss you buddy" Yuffie sniffled.

"Same here, kiddo" Cloud teased. Yuffie smiled through her tears. Vincent had to pry Yuffie off of Cloud so they could leave and the others could have a chance to say good-bye as well. A small black car pulled up beside the pizza place. Tifa knew it was her and Aerith's ride. To everyone's surprise Rufus stepped out of the car.

"Bye Cloud" Aerith's eyes swelded with tears.

"Bye Aerith" Cloud hugged her tightly. "I'll miss you a lot"

"Yeah, me too" Aerith had to let go and jump into the car. She was never good at Good-bye's and she did better to just avoid them. Cloud knew this and he wasn't at all upset, he wanted the same thing, just a moment.

"Bye" Tifa hugged Cloud tightly. Cloud returned her hug. "Well not good-bye, see you later, okay"

"Defiantly" Cloud managed to smile. Tifa heard foot steps approaching them. She turned to see Rufus standing there watching them.

"Take good care of her" Cloud handed down the responsibility of watching over his little sister to a man he knew would care for her.

"I will" Rufus genuinely assured him. Tifa backed away into the car. Rufus shook Cloud's hand and walked away towards the car. Tifa drove away and watched Cloud disappear into his mother's car that had just arrived as they were leaving. She looked at Aerith, who was in the seat beside her, she knew Aerith was having just as a hard time as she was.

"It's 'see you later,' Aerith, remember?" Tifa patted her friend's hand.

"Yeah, I know" Aerith nodded.

* * *

Everyone was quiet at school the next day. Vincent told them that he had seen Cloud off in the morning. Vincent also told them that Cloud would call once he arrived. Tifa was happy that she would be able to know that Cloud was safe. Now she just had to wait.

At lunch time Cloud called. Everyone took turns talking to him. Yuffie and Aerith teared-up again but Tifa didn't. She could tell by the tone of his voice that Cloud was very happy in his old house. She knew the he missed them but she also knew that he was very happy and that was a comforting feeling. Tifa was glad that he was safe and settling in. She knew that everything would be good for him and for all the others.

"Bump, bump, bump, bump, bum!" Tifa sang out into a hair brush microphone as a song started to play on the radio. She had struck up the ballad as herself, Aerith and Yuffie got ready for grad in her large room. The girls were in boxers, slippers and tank tops. Tifa had just finished her dark, eye defining make up. While she was waiting for Aerith and Yuffie she had started singing. Tifa jump up off her chair and struck a pose of pure confidence and sexiness.

"Everybody look at me, me," Tifa started the introduction to Nelly Furtado's 'maneater.' "I walk in the door you start"

"Screaming" All three girls sang together.

"Come on everybody what chu here for?" Yuffie chirped in as she finished her eyeliner. "Come on Aerith"

"Move your body around like a nympho" Aerith said the last word with a guilty smile. Tifa shook her booty as she shimmied across the floor of her room. She chimed in with the next couple lines.

"Everybody get your necks to crack around. All you crazy people, come on, jump around." Tifa grooved around Yuffie and Aerith as she sang. The girls paused to giggle. Yuffie was done her make up and so she jumped up to join Tifa in her singing.

"I want to see you all on your knees!" Yuffie belted out.

"knees, knees" Tifa and Aerith added and Aerith finished putting on her lip gloss.

"You either want to be with me, or be me!" Yuffie winked at Tifa and Tifa playfully stuck her tongue out. Aerith was done her make up and she jumped up to join her friends. Aerith and Tifa still had thick towels wrapped around their wet hair. Aerith wiggle her hips as she started the chorus.

"Maneater, make you work hard, Make you spend hard, Make you want all, of her love" Aerith dance around until her towel fell off her head. She giggled her way through the words until Tifa took over, also laughing.

"She's a maneater, make you buy cars, make you cut cards, make you fall real hard in love" Tifa added on the next part.

"Tifa's a Maneater, make Rufus work hard, Make him spend hard, make him want all, of her love!" Yuffie sang and Tifa threw a pillow at her. Before continuing she added a "Hey watch the make-up!" Yuffie spun around and continued taunting her friend. ""She's a maneater, make him buy cars, make him cut cards, Wish him never ever met her at all"

Aerith shirked as she looked over to see Rufus standing in the door way. Tifa turned bright red with embarrassment while Yuffie just started hysterically laughing. Yuffie collapsed onto the floor and continued giggling.

"So this is what girls do" Rufus raised a eyebrow, "Well, I guess the rumors are true. Keep your door shut next time"

"Rufus… I" Tifa didn't know how to redeem her dignity.

"Nice ass Tifa" Rufus winked and left, shutting the door behind him. Yuffie forced her body flat on the floor and pumped it up in a flattering pose. She shook her head so her hair fell in a sexy way over her eyes.

"And when she walks she walks with passion" Yuffie started up again and pulled one leg up the other in a seductive way.

"When she talks, she talks like she can handle it" Aerith added after her.

"When she asks for something, boy, she means it" Tifa regained her fun spirit and giggled as she sang what would be the last line for them. The girls just laughed for a while before turning their attention to their hair.

They were almost done with their makeovers and reveling in the fact that they had managed to save so much money doing it themselves.

"So tonight is the big night" Yuffie smiled.

"I know" Tifa grinned.

"So exciting" Aerith laughed playfully.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky when they arrived at the Hotel Flair. The stars were twinkling in the night sky producing luminescent lines along many fancy hair dos. Flashes from cameras reflected off of each graduate's face as their pictures were taken by friends, boy or girlfriends, parents and staff.  
The girls were each wearing the gifts they had given each other. Well, more speficially, the gifts they had bought each other but given each receivers boyfriend to give to them. Each receiver had figured out that these gifts were too perfect to have been a solo effort so each got the information that Yuffie, Tifa or Aerith had told him to give it to her. A confusing yet effective ploy that left all the girls in tears and giving hugs and thank yous to each other.

Tifa took a deep breath and let the smell of the night enter her nose. It seemed to twitch a bit as the delight of fresh air consumed her senses. Tonight smelled right, if that could be accurately said since up until tonight she did not know was this night should smell like, but it did smell right. Tifa stood amongst her friends in what was to be a very large group picture. Yuffie and Vincent playfully smiled at the camera. Aerith hung on Zack's arm, beaming with pride at her tall, new, boyfriend. Rufus shyly slipped his arm around Tifa's waist and stared grimacing at the camera.

"Three, two, one!" The Reno shouted as he snapped the picture of all the couples. He had brought Elena as a joke date but he was finding his night with her very enjoyable.

The hosts were starting to herd everyone inside the building. Tifa and Rufus walked in together and presented their tickets to the usher. They were pointed in the direction of 4 very large doors that were open and welcoming them inside. They entered a the beautiful ball room with an excited bounce. There was a murmur of voices around the room as each small group of friends chatted about their plans for the evening and how wonderful everyone looked.

Tifa took her seat with her friends at their table. Aerith marveled over how they were number seven.

"See because your bar is 7th Heaven and we're at table number 7!" Aerith laughed as she provided an unnecessary explanation of what she had implied.

"I know, we get it Aerith" Yuffie lovingly rolled her eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Everyone halted their conversations and rotated in their chairs to look at the Principal standing on the central stage.

Tifa zoned out. He was talking about their exciting futures and how he had loved being a part of each of their lives. He included, as a joke, that he had seen some more than others. Rufus and Reno hollered at this comment and everyone laughed. The table had a gorgeous flower arrangement in the center which Tifa was currently playing with. Rufus took her hand and squeezed it. She turned her large brown eyes to meet his icey blue ones. She gave him and happy smile and he smirked back at her. He kissed her temple lightly and Tifa got shivers. She was enjoying her night tonight. It was something she would never forget.  
The food was served table by table. It was a large buffet with a very large roast at the end of it. Aerith was very entertained by the observation of the different amounts of food each gender took. Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa kept their serving small since their dresses did not expand well, while the boys took large amount and even went back for seconds.

"Sometimes I wish I was a guy' Yuffie sighed, watching all the guys eat the delicious food.

"Same here, but just think, we'll raid the desert table! Those take up less room" Tifa patted her stomach.

"Good point!" Yuffie got an evil grin on her face and she plotted over throwing the desert table. She waited patiently and watched all the waiters take away the dinner and put out the deserts. Vincent watched her with loving eyes. He thought it was adorable the way she was intensely focused on the strawberry pie. Even a war veteran had never looked so determine to capture the enemy flag.

"Alright Graduates of 2007! Come and get your deserts! Starting with table…" Before the principle could utter the number Yuffie hollered "SEVEN!" so loud that everyone turned to their table.

"Sure! Number seven" Yuffie's tone had not been one to disagree with.

Tifa, Yuffie and Aerith marched towards the desert table with Rufus, Vincent and Zack close behind them. Yuffie bolted and grabbed all the cake, ice cream and pudding she could. Tifa and Aerith took their fair share as well. While the boys, who were full from all the fish, chicken, roast and salad they had consumed, only took a few. Yuffie darted back to their table and consumed her desert. Tifa and Aerith remained more lady like in the eating part but non the less were chewing very fast. Rufus and Zack smiled at their dates.

Tifa's theory was right. Desert did take up less room and the girls were full and still comfortable in their dresses. Plus, they weren't too full for when the dancing started.

Everyone migrated towards the dance floor as soon as the music started. Rufus took Tifa's hand and led her into a slow song. Aerith and Yuffie were up and dancing near her as well. Tifa leaned her head into Rufus' shoulder and took a deep breath. She inhaled the scent of his cologne. Rufus smelled nice. He smelled like a gentlemen, a distinguished man that was going to take very good care of her.

Aerith was thinking deeply as she swayed to the music. It was odd how music could do that to someone. It puts you in a trance. Aerith reflected on her feelings. She was happy with Zack. She thought she was pretty sure of that. It was good for now. Aerith wondered if she was too young to be thinking about the rest of her life with someone. She shook her head lightly and Zack looked down at her. She looked up into his eyes. She was too young and it was too soon to know if he was 'the one' but she was happy in this moment right now.

Yuffie was hoping they would change it a rock song soon. She didn't like public displays like this, even if everyone was doing it. She was also thinking about getting more desert somehow. She could always flirt with the waiters if she needed too. Vincent shouldn't mind too much since he knew more than anything else in the world that Yuffie loved him and only him. And also knew more than anything in the world that she loved desert more than men. It was better and it never pissed you off. And Yuffie knew that Vincent would love her not matter what she did or how vulgar she acted. Yuffie suddenly forgot about desert and started to think about how lucky she is.

The slow song ended and one with a fast tempo took over. Everyone started moving a little faster. Flashes from cameras shot throughout the crowd as the photographers and friends all took pictures of the scene. Aerith was picked up by all her friends and passed a long the crowd. When she was placed down again she came bouncing back to her friends to keep dancing. It was like a miniature rave, confided to the square of the room designated for dancing.

"My feet are getting sore" Yuffie announced and Tifa and Aerith nodded. Heels were not very pleasant for long. The boys sat down at the table while the girls went out onto the balcony to get some air. Tifa wasn't cold outside since she had accumulated quiet a bit of heat while dancing. The cold breeze felt nice on her skin.

"Tonight was a nice night for us three" Yuffie smiled at her friends.

"Definitely. While I'm happy to spend sometime with the boys I really felt tonight should be more about us" Aerith nodded her head once firmly.

"Yeah me too, you guys have meant the world to me" Tifa smiled.

"Have meant? That's a little too much past tense for me there, Tef." Yuffie gave her a serious look.

"You know what I mean" Tifa shook her head and laughed.

"To us!" Aerith raised a pretend glass in the air.

"To us" Tifa and Yuffie joined in. They made silly 'clanging' noises when they put their hands near each other and laughed. Tifa adored her friends. It was moments like these that made her life all the more special.

* * *

Tifa stood out on the balcony of her room. She felt Rufus move up behind her and snake his hands around her waist. They stood silently together for a long while. Tifa thought about the end of her high school life. Her school days were over and she missed them. It was ironic how she had spent so much time obsessing over tests and issues in her life that all seemed so trivial now; all part of the fun experience. She didn't know what would lay ahead. The path she stared down now was all covered in darkness. She took a deep breath. She knew she would be just fine.

"I love you" Rufus whispered in her ear and Tifa closed her eyes and smiled, everything would be fine.

"I love you too, Ruffus"

* * *

  
If anyone would like to draw Yuffie storming a desert table please do! And send me a copy! I think it could be a very funny image but that's just me. Well that's it. University keeps me so busy! Sorry if it felt rushed. Hope you guys enjoyed it anyways.


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